Record sales in 2016
The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington reported a record 16,556 all-property sales through the Association’s Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) System in 2016 – a less - than one per cent increase over the record set just last year.
Residential sales fell 0.3 per cent short of last year’s sales, while sales in the commercial sector – farms, vacant land, businesses and multi-residential properties – were 17.2 per cent higher than the previous year, contributing to the push past last year’s sales.
Total dollar volume of all transactions was $8.344 Billion – a 13.2 per cent increase over the previous year.
“2016 continued the very hot market from the previous year,” noted RAHB CEO George O’Neill. “It was the combination of having lots of buyers for fewer listings which gave us higher sale prices and that big increase in total dollar volume.”
In the residential market, listings were down 9.1 per cent from the previous year, with the median sale price up 14 per cent and the average price up 12.4 per cent.
The median sale price in the freehold market was up 14.1 per cent, while the median for condominium properties was up 12 per cent.
The average prices for freehold and condominium were up 12.3 per cent and 11.3 per cent respectively.
Average days on market dropped significantly in the residential sector in 2016: from 34 days to 26 days in the freehold market and from 34 to 27 for condos.
“There was a very brisk pace to the market through the year, which again shows the strength of the seller’s market that persists,” added O’Neill. “Of course, markets differ from community to community, and the average days on market is also different in each area. For instance, the average for residential properties for Hamilton West was 27 days; in Caledonia it was 17 days and in Burlington it was 21 days.
There can be wide variations from area to area.” O’Neill also pointed out that the averages – whether they be for days on the market or sale price - should not be taken as indicators of what a particular property is worth or how long it will take to sell.
“All real estate is local, and REALTORS® have the experience in local marketplaces to properly advise buyers and sellers about the sale or purchase or their home.” *Seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal variations, enabling analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends in the data.