Home sales continue to slow down

The pace of home sales in Hamilton continues to slow down and the average sale price — although still climbing — is not soaring as it was in the hot market up to April.

George O’Neill, CEO of the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB), attributes it to a “tendency toward a more balanced market” over the last few months.

Home sales of 1,086 in August — are down 18.2 per cent from the same month last year, continuing the downward trend that started in May, when they dropped 3.5 per cent from a year earlier.

There continues to be more houses on the market — with a 6.1 per cent increase in new listings in August compared to a year ago. Houses are also taking longer to sell — the average number of days on the market has risen to 33 days compared to 27 last year.

But O’Neill says the time it takes to sell a house depends on the month and August is not a particularly busy one for sales.

“Real estate is seasonal. Spring and fall, they’re the busiest seasons and the number of days on the market is less,” he said. “Thirty-three days, in the grand scheme of things, is still very acceptable to most sellers.”

The average house price in August was $553,984, up 11.7 per cent from last year.

“There has been speculation that with more listings on the market and fewer sales, prices would decrease as a result. That is not the experience in our market area — at least not so far,” O’Neill said.

Buyers are still coming from the GTA for the affordability and lifestyle here, he added. “Hamilton remains a very attractive place to come and live.”

O’Neill expects sales to increase in the fall, notwithstanding the Bank of Canada’s interest rate increase to 1 per cent and banks hiking prime rates as a result.

The average price for homes in Toronto and the GTA last month was $732,292, down 1.8 per cent from July and 20.3 per cent below April’s astounding GTA average of $919,086.