Hamilton house prices up over 2017
RAHB sales plummet third straight month, prices also tumbled
Despite a slow start to 2018, house prices in Hamilton are climbing year-over-year, according to a new housing survey.
The aggregate price of a house increased by 11.8 per cent — from $471,224 to $527,001 — in the first quarter of 2018, compared to the same period last year, the results of the Royal LePage House Price Survey released Friday show.
While prices are up year-overyear, they’re down 1.8 per cent quarter-over-quarter.
“I don’t know if we’ll see those increases continue in the next quarter or as we move forward throughout the year, but I think we are in a somewhat stable market still with affordability,” said Joe Ferrante, broker of record for Royal LePage State Realty. “I think we’re more balanced, which is good for both buyers and sellers.”
More specifically, the price of two-storey homes in Hamilton jumped 12.6 per cent and the price of bungalows rose by 11.4 per cent in the first quarter of 2018 compared to the same time last year, the survey showed.
The same cannot be said for condominiums. According to the survey, local condo prices decreased by 2.8 per cent year-overyear, when comparing the first quarters of 2018 and 2017.
“There is a lot of new condo developments in the greater Hamilton area,” Ferrante said. “It gives people a lot of choice and obviously that affected prices.”
Nationally, Canada’s real estate market saw slowing yearover-year increases in the first three months of 2018, according to Royal LePage.
March statistics from the Realtors Association of HamiltonBurlington (RAHB) showed local real estate sales plummeted for the third straight month and prices took a sizable tumble too.
Residential sales fell by 37.8 per cent in March 2018 compared to a year ago. Sale prices fell by 13.8 per cent, meaning the average in Hamilton-Burlington was $530,843 last month, compared to $615.776 in March last year.
“Since the first of the year ... we’ve seen month-by-month declines, but again we have to keep it in comparison, because last year certainly was a peak as we all know now,” said RAHB CEO George O’Neill.