Hamilton Real Estate Market Update November 2017

The Realtor’s Association of Hamilton-Burlington has just reported Hamilton’s market stats for November of 2017. We saw a continued increase in listing inventory, albeit down from September and October.

We saw a very large increase in inventory hit the market in September as people rushed to put their homes on the market. There were those who had listed their home in prior months but couldn’t sell — or couldn’t achieve the prices they wanted. There were people who wanted to list in late spring or early summer but decided to wait for fall, as they felt this would be the most optimal time. Piling onto this was the annual September rush, as sellers attempt to sell their homes before the holiday season.

Inventory increasing in such a large number naturally has an impact on sales. More inventory doesn’t mean more buyers. Sales (not prices) have been down a bit year-over-year, but of course still performing very well when looking at the ten-year average. With more inventory and more options, average sales prices have softened and of course, we are entering into what are slower months in which average sale prices are lower regardless. This is a result of continued aftershocks from the April housing announcements and a general concern regarding the new mortgage rules starting January 1st.

All of these factors will reverberate through the marketplace and then start to level off. We’re seeing that already, as new listings are up 12.2 percent for the month — much less of an increase than we’ve seen in the last several months. Sales are down 12.7 percent, but with so much inventory, something has to give. So we’re seeing sales down again but not as steep as the past few months. Median sale prices are up 7.4%. Average sale price is up 5.1%. Year-over-year, prices are up, but softer than we’ve seen in some of the past few months.

We’re still in a low-level seller’s market at the current time but are teetering on a balanced market. Average days on market are up, with such a large inventory increase, similar to what we saw in June. Homes are on the market about 48 percent longer, so last year a home would have sold in about 25 days, but we’re at about 37 now.

Inventory is up 43.9 percent, which is why we’re seeing a bit softer average sale price increases and average days on market taking longer. When there’s that much competition, homes are going to take longer to sell, as buyers have more options. Going into the end of the year, it looks like we will end with some decent average price increases year-over-year. We’ll see how the numbers look at the end December.

We do expect to see average sales prices up — not nearly as much as we would have seen if the government had not intervened in the market, but up nevertheless. November was a busy month for the market and for our team as well. Now that we’ve gotten through this year, we’re going to see fewer of these little shocks and bumps in the road, as inventory starts to level out and falls back into line.

The fall market has officially come to a close.