Hamilton home sales drop 31% in January, February

Hamilton’s “unperfect” real estate storm came to a head with a decrease in sales in the first quarter of the year, according to a recent housing report.

The number of units sold in the Hamilton and Burlington area in January and February dropped 31.2 per cent this year compared to the same period in 2017, the RE/MAX 2018 Spring Market Trends Report shows.

That decrease is set against the backdrop of the peak of Hamilton’s hot housing market in 2017, government-implemented changes like the mortgage stress test and winter weather, said Conrad Zurini, broker of record at RE/MAX Escarpment Realty Inc.

“It’s the unperfect storm, so to speak, when it comes to real estate,” he said.

“We have never seen this kind of headwinds.”

While the number of units sold is down compared to this time last year, there is still a lot of local competition for homes in the $350,000 to $450,000 price range.

That stems from demand from first-time homebuyers and those looking to downsize and put some money in the bank, Zurini said.

The mortgage stress test isn’t necessarily affecting first-timers, who can still access the “bank of Mom and Dad,” he said.

And while downsizes’ homes haven’t appreciated as much as they might have last year, their dollars stretch a little further now, Zurini added.

Looking ahead to the summer, Zurini said he expects the local market to pick up.

In terms of appointments, RE/MAX had 30 per cent fewer in January compared to the same month last year.

But now the gap has narrowed to a decrease of about 14 per cent, Zurini said.

“If we didn’t have the winter that we had, we would have probably seen a different figure out there.”