There were 1,228 sales of residential properties reported through the MLS® for Hamilton-Burlington in February 2022. This is 71% higher than January but still 4% down over February 2021. Inventory in the area remains low with the Realtors® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reporting 1,675 new listings in February. Although this number is up 84% over January and 1% up over February 2021, this is still much lower than in past years.
Average prices in the Hamilton-Burlington region remained over the $1 million mark at $1,104,163 this month, an increase of 4.2% over the previous month and over 30% higher than February 2021.
As we enter the traditionally-busy Spring Market, it will be interesting to see how the market will be impacted by recent news including the Bank of Canada’s announcement of the first interest rate hike since 2018. More on that below.
Let’s take a closer look at what happened in the local real estate market last month:
Hamilton Market Activity
| Variable | 2022 | 2021 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Activity | 755 | 751 | 0.5% |
| Dollar Volume | $765,181,533 | $580,842,603 | 31.7% |
| New Listings | 1,035 | 982 | 5.4% |
| Active Listings | 427 | 549 | -22.2% |
| Months of Inventory | 0.6 | 0.7 | -0.2 |
| Average Price | $1,013,485 | $773,426 | 31.0% |
| Median Price | $951,000 | $712,777 | 33.4% |
| Median Days on Market | 7.0 | 7.0 | 0.0 |
| Average Days on Market | 9.1 | 13.5 | -4.4 |
Burlington Market Activity
| Variable | 2022 | 2021 | Difference |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sales Activity | 254 | 308 | -17.5% |
| Dollar Volume | $359,114,442 | $328,031,754 | 9.5% |
| New Listings | 349 | 376 | -7.2% |
| Active Listings | 135 | 170 | -20.6% |
| Months of Inventory | 0.5 | 0.6 | -0.0 |
| Average Price | $1,413,836 | $1,065,038 | 32.7% |
| Median Price | $1,306,000 | $967,950 | 34.9% |
| Median Days on Market | 6.0 | 6.0 | 0.0 |
| Average Days on Market | 8.6 | 13.9 | -5.3 |
Sales Activity
There were 755 sales in Hamilton in February 2022 compared to 751 in February 2021. This is an increase of 0.5% year-over-year. Burlington reported 254 sales in February compared to 308 sales this time last year. This is a decrease of about 17% year-over-year.
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New Listings
There were 1,035 new listings in Hamilton in February 2022. This is up 5% over 2021 when there were 982. New listings in Burlington were down slightly by 7% over last year. There were 349 new listings reported compared to 2021 when there were 376. These numbers are still well below averages from pre-pandemic years.
Active Listings
In Hamilton, active listings were down by 22% over last year with 427 compared to 549 in 2021. Active listings in Burlington were also down by about 20% over last year with 135 active listings in February 2022 compared to 170 in February 2021.
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Months of Inventory
The Hamilton market saw a slight decrease in months of inventory last year, going from 0.7 months of inventory in 2021 to 0.6 this year. Burlington saw a similar slight trend, going from 0.6 months of inventory last year to 0.5 months now.
Average Days on Market
Listings continue to move quickly in both Hamilton and Burlington. Average days on market in Hamilton is down by 4.4 days from 13.5 in 2021 to 9.1 days in 2022. In Burlington, we are seeing an even greater change. Average days on market went from 13.9 days in 2021 to 8.6 days last month.
Average Prices
Prices in the region continue to rise. In Hamilton, the average home price was $1,013,485. This is a 31% increase over 2021 when the average price was $773,426. Average home prices in Burlington sit at $1,413,836 this month, a 33% increase over 2021 when the average price was $1,065,038. Experts hope that the recent interest rate hike could help to slow the current rate of increase.
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In the News
The most significant news coming out this month is the Bank of Canada’s decision to finally raise the Policy Rate from its emergency rate of 0.25% to 0.5%. In its policy meeting on March 2nd, the central bank made the announcement of a rate hike as policymakers attempt to control inflation, which hit a three-decade high last month. This is the first 0.25% increase since 2018.
Bank of Canada officials also said to expect borrowing costs to rise further due to “elevated inflation pressures.” Experts are predicting that the Policy Rate could hit 0.75% by June 2022 and as high as 1.75% by March of 2023. If this is the case, it will be the fastest increase since the bank adopted its inflation targets over 30 years ago.
According to Bloomberg, the central bank is concerned about “emergency levels of pandemic stimulus” fueling demand in an economy already stretched thin. The latest announcement to increase the Policy Rate should help cool inflation.
However, the central bank did note that they are keeping a close eye on the current Russian invasion of Ukraine, which threatens to only fuel inflation further. Policymakers said the situation remains “fluid” and they are following the events closely.
A Look at What’s to Come
With the Spring Market just around the corner, we are seeing listing inventory pick up, however, slightly. This remains some of the tightest conditions we have ever seen leading into a traditionally busy Spring Market.
The Bank of Canada’s new interest rate announcement won’t have a measurable impact on the market at the moment since rates remain far lower than pre-pandemic levels, which were already some of the lowest seen in history.
However, with rate hikes expected to continue over the year, buyers should get into the market as soon as possible to avoid paying both high real estate prices and high-interest rates.
Sellers should also consider listing as soon as possible in order to leverage current conditions. Buying power is at an all-time high and as interest rates rise, price appreciation will also likely moderate.
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