The Realtors® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1,254 sales for the month of May, which was up 12% over April 2023 and up about 3% over May 2022. RAHB attributes this increase to stronger sales in Hamilton, Niagara North, and Burlington, specifically. 

Inventory in the region remains lower than long-term trends for the month, causing months of inventory to fall. The RAHB comments that sales are still being impacted by higher lending rates, but the lack of inventory is contributing to rising prices since January. 

The unadjusted benchmark price for the area was $877,100 across the RAHB for May 2023, which is a 1% increase over last month and up 11% over last year. It’s interesting to note that even with the interest rate hikes and market adjustments from 2022, residential prices for May are still higher than what was reported in 2021. 

Have you signed up for our weekly newsletter? Get The St. Jean Report delivered right to your inbox and stay ahead of market trends and news. Subscribe here.

Let’s take a closer look at what happened in the local real estate market last month:

Hamilton Market Activity

Variable2023Difference
Sales Activity7500.8%
New Listings1,234-24.8
Active Listings1,114-16.1%
Months of Inventory1.5-16.8%
Average Price $814,082-14.3%
Median Price$750,000-8.0%
Average Days on Market19.150.3%

Burlington Market Activity

Variable2023Difference
Sales Activity3146.4%
New Listings429-20.7%
Active Listings291-25.4%
Months of Inventory0.9-29.9%
Average Price $1,127,635-7.9%
Median Price$1,050,000-4.4%
Average Days on Market17.234.3%

Before buying or selling, make sure you’re fully familiar with the local real estate market. You can read our past Hamilton-Burlington real estate market report updates right here.

Sales Activity 

Sales in Hamilton were up by 0.8% in May over last year with 750 sales reported through the MLS®. Sales in Burlington were up 6.4% year-over-year with 314 sales reported in May.

New Listings

New listings in Hamilton were down 24.8% in May 2023 over May 2022. There were 1,234 new listings in the area. In Burlington, new listings were down 20.7% with 429 new listings last month over the previous year.

Active Listings

Inventory was also down year-over-year in Hamilton by about 16.1% with 1,114 active listings in May 2023. Inventory in Burlington was down about 24.5% with 291 active listings last month. 

Months of Inventory

Months of supply (or inventory) are typically used to measure the type of market conditions we are currently experiencing. Anything above 3 months of inventory is typically considered a “buyer’s market.” In Hamilton, months of supply were down 16.8% year-over-year to 1.5. Months of supply in Burlington went down even more by about 29.9% at 0.9. This reflects market conditions that would typically favour sellers. 

Average Days on Market

Average days on market are up year-over-year in both cities. In Hamilton, the average DOM was at 19.1, which is up about 50.3% over last year. Average DOM in Burlington is up by about 34.3% for May 2023 with 17.2 days. 

Average Prices

Averages prices in the RAHB area have been on the rise since January. However, from a year-over-year perspective, prices are still down. In Hamilton, the average residential price was $814,082, down 9.1% over last year. Prices in Burlington were down by about 7.9% at $1,127,635.

In the News

In a surprising move, the Bank of Canada announced a new interest rate hike last week. The new Policy Rate now sits at 4.75%, the highest we’ve seen since 2001. The bank cited an overheating economy as the main driver for this increase, and although it had been holding rates for the past two months, the bank did report that it would decide to hike again if needed. According to a Bloomberg survey, only about 1 in 5 economists predicted this increase. 

Recent data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board also shows prices in Toronto having their biggest month-over-month spike since the peak of the market back in February 2022. While home prices in Canada’s largest city have been on the rise for three consecutive months, the latest increase of 3.2% brings the benchmark home price in Toronto up to $1.14 million. 

A Look at What’s to Come

The recent interest rate increase will likely concern many Canadians who are already feeling “the pinch” of borrowing costs. However, for those looking to enter the market or sell, now is definitely the time. 

Despite the recent increase, the Bank of Canada’s rate hiking cycle is still likely coming to an end, and once the rates start to go back down, we can fully expect to see home prices skyrocket. 

Home prices in the region bottomed out about five months ago and have been steadily on the rise since then, with prices expected to continue to rise throughout the second half of 2023 as well. 

Inventory also remains a persisting issue. Low inventory creates more competition among buyers, a trend that will also likely continue throughout the year. 

For buyers and sellers alike, now is the time to capitalize on the market and get in before rates go down again and prices accelerate further. 

Are you thinking about making a real estate move in the near future? Call us at  1-844-484-SOLD or email us here for everything you need to know about buying and selling in this market.