Hamilton, Burlington home sales down 21% in July from a year ago
Kelly Bennett | CBC News | Posted: August 3, 2017 6:38 PM | Last Updated: August 3, 2017
'This is much closer to a balanced market,' says Hamilton-Burlington realtors association CEO
The local housing market continued to cool in July, moving closer to a balanced market between buyers and sellers, new sales and price numbers for Hamilton and Burlington real estate show.
There were 1,125 residential properties sold last month, which is about 21 per cent fewer sales than were registered in July 2016, according to numbers released Thursday by the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington.
The median sale price of the homes sold last month was still up from a year ago, but has fallen somewhat in the last few months.
The median price of all home types sold in July — meaning half sold for more, and half sold for less — was $475,000. That's an increase of 14 per cent from last July's median which was $416,000.
But the median price of all home types sold in April, $509,900, was 11.2 per cent higher than the median price of the homes sold in July.
"These are certainly not the price drops experienced in other areas of the Greater Toronto-Hamilton area, but may still be an indication that the hot market is cooling – at least for now," said George O'Neill, the association's CEO.
In terms of condo sales only, prices rose more significantly.
The median price of a condo sold in July was $397,000, up 21 per cent from last July's $328,000 median price.
A market more favourable for buyers
O'Neill saw the cooling as a trend that started in April and May. That's when the provincial government stepped in with some measures aimed at cooling the housing market in Toronto and surrounding cities.
Earlier in the year, if you compared the number of homes for sale with the number of homes that sold each month, the ratio was as high as 91 per cent — which indicates a market heavily tilted toward sellers because buyers know they don't have many other choices.
But in July, the ratio of homes for sale to the number of sales in the month was 60 per cent, which O'Neill said is "much closer to a balanced market."