The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 949 property sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) system in February. This represents a 0.7 per cent decrease in sales compared to February of last year.
There were 1405 properties listed in February, a decrease of 5.9 per cent from the same month last year. End-of-month listing inventory was 12.3 per cent lower than last year at the same time.
The average sale price of $398,973 was 5.8 per cent higher than last February.
“The long winter seems to be having an effect on the real estate market,” said RAHB CEO Ross Godsoe. “Our listing inventory continues to be lower than average, and overall, for all property types, we are seeing fewer listings and sales compared to last year.”
Seasonally adjusted* sales of residential properties were less than one per cent higher than the same month last year, with the average sale price up 6.4 per cent for the month. Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 5.4 per cent lower than the same month last year.
Seasonally adjusted data for residential properties for the month of February, 2014:
Actual overall residential sales were 1.4 per cent higher than the previous year at the same time. Residential freehold sales were 1.5 per cent higher than last year while the condominium market saw an increase of 1.2 per cent in sales. The average price of freehold properties showed an increase of 4.8 per cent over the same month last year; the average sale price in the condominium market increased 17.6 per cent when compared to the same period last year.
“Residential sales are up a bit from last year,” said RAHB CEO Ross Godsoe. “but when you look at the bigger picture, sales are actually almost seven per cent below what is average for the month of February, based on results from the last ten years. Likewise, listings are about 15 per cent lower than average.”
The average sale price is based on the total dollar volume of all properties sold. Average sale price information can be useful in establishing long term trends, but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value.
The average days on market decreased from 46 to 43 days in the freehold market and from 80 to 41 days in the condominium market.
Every community in RAHB’s market area has its own localized residential market. Please refer to the accompanying chart for residential market activity in select areas in RAHB’s jurisdiction.
*Seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal variations, enabling analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends in the data.
