Overall, June was a very positive month. Sales for the month were up a staggering 11%; we’re seeing sales continue to increase year over year. Last year in June, 713 homes traded hands: this year, 789 homes traded hands. That’s a fairly significant increase in sales. New listings are down again, continuing the trend for the last few months, as the market continues to tighten. New listings are down 3%. Last year, 1,252 homes hit the market, this year 1,209. So again, fewer listings are coming to the market.

Active listings are down 10%, which makes sense. Last year, there were 1,846 listings on the market. This year, there were 1,656. So we’ve seen new listings down for a number of months now. Active listings have been shrinking or are in decline, and we’ve seen sales increasing. Obviously, it would make sense that the number of listings on the market is decreasing quite significantly. New product is not coming to replace the homes being sold. All signs pointing to an ever-tightening market. The fundamentals of the market continue to take control of the market, after the government interventions we saw.

We did see inventory increase artificially due to government interventions, but this has quickly worn off. All the strong, positive fundamentals will inevitably regain control over the market. While the market can be scared, and buyer and seller psychology can be impacted temporarily, it’ll never fix the problem or be a long-term solution.

Months of inventory is down 0.5%. Last year we had 2.6 months of inventory, and we’re now down to 2.1 months of inventory. We’re getting close to cracking the two months of inventory mark, again pointing to the inventory decreasing, and the market tightening. That’s what we see again here with the inventory. When you have low inventory and fewer new listings on the market, then we are going to see prices rising. It’s all about supply and demand, and we have a short supply and an incredible amount of demand in this region.

Average sales prices are up 5% in June, which is incredible. Last year, average sales prices were $511,292. This year, average sales prices are $538,106. So, a solid 5% gain. In comparison, Toronto was up just over 3%: Hamilton out shined even Canada’s greatest housing market in June.

Days on market decreased in June. We’re down 2 days in June of this year compared to last year. 27.5 days to 25.5 days. Again, with sales up and inventory down, and demand at a very strong level, it makes sense that homes are selling quicker. We’re below the 30-day mark which is absolutely incredible, very quick in comparison to most communities in the country, so that’s very positive news. These numbers can vary wildly between between different price brackets and areas.

If you’re looking Hamilton Mountain, Centre, or East, Days on market is dramatically lower, and average sale prices growth is even higher. There are areas just outshining the averages, within the boundaries of Hamilton-Burlington. We’re still seeing a tale of many different markets. Certain communities are outshining certain brackets. The lower the price, the higher the demand. The $0 to $500k bracket is seeing faster activity than the $500k to $1 million plus range. It’s all relative.

Looking at communities over the month, we’re seeing Hamilton proper outshining the rest of the board. Hamilton East average prices are $409,384, versus $362,278 last year. Hamilton Centre, average prices are $390,005 on average, above $335,927 last year. So again, prices up significantly.

Hamilton Mountain prices were up again in or around the $500,000 mark. Average sales prices in Hamilton Centre and Hamilton East should hit thee $400,000 mark soon. We’ve now been flirting with it for the past few months and I suspect we will cross over the $400,000 mark sometime before the end of 2019.

The days of buying homes in the $300,000 range are about to come to an end. First time buyers, investors, anyone looking at those locations, needs to get into the market immediately, because those are the price points being pushed up and driven up far higher than the averages. Suburban communities, and communities of a higher price point, are seeing prices up but again not as high as Hamilton proper.

Overall though, prices up, sales up, and things moving quickly. The fundamentals of the market are regaining their control as they always do and will — and it looks like we’re heading into the summer months on a very positive note.