Housing market

[Berklon]

I've always browsed the Resale Homes magazine the last few years and I've noticed in the last 5 issues or so that they've slipped in a lot more articles than they have in the past. Articles on buying advice, selling, etc... how to stage your house, mortgages, the state of the housing market, etc. They seem a lot more desperate than they were in the past - that has to be some sort of indication of the market.

[LikeHamilton]

I live just east of Gage Park south of King and my house sold in 3 days in March to a couple from Toronto.

[Zaz]

Originally Posted by LikeHamilton

I live just east of Gage Park south of King and my house sold in 3 days in March to a couple from Toronto.

Congratulations LikeHamilton! Are you moving out of the area?

There seems to be a huge wave of Torontonians coming in. We moved from the GTA not too long ago and loving every minute of it. The evidence is mostly anecdotal, but even our dentist in the GTA said: "you too??? seems like everyone is moving to Hamilton these days, it must be a 'happening place' right now!".

Let's hope Hamilton doesn't lose its easy-going and friendly atmosphere any time soon!

[adam]

Torontonians who make Hamilton their home will help bring much needed affluence to the area. So are there many folk from Toronto looking at moving to the mountain? Or is it just the lower city?

[FairHamilton]

Originally Posted by adam

Torontonians who make Hamilton their home will help bring much needed affluence to the area. So are there many folk from Toronto looking at moving to the mountain? Or is it just the lower city?

I think it's predominantly the lower city.

It's all about urban living, because if you wanted suburban you can buy a home in Whitby, Ajax, Burlington, Oakville, Brampton, Milton, etc.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by adam

Torontonians who make Hamilton their home will help bring much needed affluence to the area.

Let's hope they're bringing their social and intellectual capital as well.

[highwater]

Here in Westdale, houses that are priced right are going quickly and even going into competition. The only ones sitting around are the ones priced unrealistically, usually after some quick and dirty cosmetic 'improvements'.

[Millstone]

Units in my building and surrounding aren't selling that well/at all. According to an agent, March was pretty good and April is seeing a decline.

[mic67]

I did an unscientific survey of MLS listings within about a 2 KM range of center mall and it appeared there were about 200 houses for sale, And I do know for a fact that all houses for sale do not have a for sale sign in front, and that some of those houses have been on the market for years. Until recently I haven seen many SOLD signs, not to say there are lots now but more than in the early part of the year.

To buy in Hamilton you better know hamilton rather well, and dont rely on a real estate agent opinion for reviews on location and or area.

[omro]

Buying to flip or rent and buying to own are two different sets of criteria.

When you are buying to own, you concentrate on making a home and what is right for you. The location, location, location criteria differ.

[SteelTown]

Realtors found June hot, hot, hot

July 07, 2009
Meredith Macleod
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/595404

The local real estate market doesn't seem to know there's a recession going on.

In fact, June was a record month for Hamilton and Burlington residential realtors who sold 1,560 homes and condos.

That surpassed "the record number sold in May 2007 during that year's scorching market," explained Bruce King, president of the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington.

Home prices are also up over June of 2008.

Sales of homes and businesses were up 18.6 per cent in June over the same month last year, according to numbers released yesterday by the realtors association.

The 1,604 transactions, including 44 sales of businesses and industrial, farm and vacant land, also marked a jump of 18.5 per cent over May's figures.

"We were expecting a rebound but not this much," said King.

June marked the sixth straight month of increased sales.

"Hamilton and Burlington's home market has always been very strong and the current economic situation doesn't seem to have changed that at all," said King.

The recession has pushed total unit sales for the first six months of 2009 down 10 per cent over the same period last year. New unit listings are also 7.8 per cent lower for the year to date.

But King expects the sales momentum will continue.

"I don't think we'll do better than 2007 or 2008, but there is every reason to think the economic situation won't hit us nearly as hard as we might have thought," said King.

The average price of freehold residential properties sold in June was $315,055, an increase of 1.9 per cent over June last year.

In the condominium market, the average price in June was $219,547, an increase of 1.4 per cent over last year.

Listings remain slow, with the total number of units listed for sale during June at 1,835, down 1.6 per cent from 2008.

Figures released yesterday by the City of Hamilton's building division also show positive signs.

The city issued 450 building permits in June for construction valued at $123 million.

Half of the value comes from industrial development, especially ongoing work at the McMaster Innovation Park.

Residential construction accounted for another quarter of construction value.

While construction value is down 40 per cent over the same value last year, 2008 and 2007 were boom years for local construction. The 12-month numbers for June 2008 to June 2009 beat both 2005 and 2006.

[SteelTown]

Local real estate shows bounce
House prices rise in second quarter

July 08, 2009
Steve Arnold
The Hamilton Spectator
http://www.thespec.com/News/Business/article/596064

A new report shows house prices rising across Hamilton in the second quarter of this year.

The study by real estate giant Royal LePage shows rising prices across the city's neighbourhoods -- with only a tiny drop in one area. Hamilton's central area led the increases with a rise in values of almost 36 per cent.

Joe Ferrante, broker of record at Royal LePage State Realty, attributed the bounce in prices to buyers finally deciding to take advantage of low-interest-rate mortgages.

"People are recognizing that there are great values out there," he said. "I still read the papers and read about deficits and layoffs so I'm not sure we can call what happened in June a recovery, but it's still nice to see."

Royal LePage president Phil Soper said several forces are helping the real estate market recover -- the business usually picks up in the second quarter of the year and the 2009 figures are being compared to an especially bad 2008.

"We saw a very sharp drop in prices through the winter, but the recovery was equally impressive starting in March," he said.

The study measures changes in the price of both a standard two- storey house and a detached bungalow in Hamilton's Mountain, East, West and Centre areas. Changes are shown for the April-June quarter over the January-March first quarter and over the same quarter last year.

It shows the average price of a detached bungalow on the Mountain was $212,191 during the April-June period, up 2.3 per cent from the same quarter last year. During the first quarter of this year, the same class sold for an average $209,006.

A west end bungalow averaged $245,900 during the second quarter, up 4 per cent from the same period last year. In the first quarter, that property type sold for $229,706. In the east end, a bungalow averaged $167,885, up 0.5 per cent from last year and also rising sharply from $155,560 in the first quarter.

The centre of Hamilton was the big winner, showing an average price of $153,932 during the second quarter, soaring almost 36 per cent from both last year and the $113,150 average reported in the first quarter.

Soper said spikes like that usually result from contractors bidding up the price of the land under houses they want to demolish and replace, or consumers bidding for houses they plan to extensively renovate.

The story for standard two-storey houses across the four regions is largely the same -- a house in that class on the Mountain averaged $304,484 during the second quarter, down 0.1 per cent from the same period last year. This segment was up sharply from the $277,525 average reported in the first quarter.

Standard houses in the west end averaged $279,141 during the second quarter, up 4 per cent from the same period last year, also rising from $229,706 in the first quarter of this year. In the centre area, the standard house averaged $154,896. That's up 9.2 per cent from the same quarter last year and also up from the $135,743 average reported in the first three months of this year.

In the east end, this class averaged $260,711, a 7.2 per cent increase from the same period last year and also up from the $227,111 average in the first quarter.

[Berklon]

I wouldn't trust any data coming from a real estate firm.

[BrianE]

The numbers are probably accurate. Cheap money usualy results in a run on houses. Where these reports fail is in interpolating this level of house buying into the future. This level of sales activity cannot possibly be sustained for much longer, prices should continue their downward trend pretty soon.

[mic67]

Confessions of a Slum Lord, Ontario Housing Tribunal Part 1

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QaIQBYbApAY

2,373 views

"After renting a Home I was assured would be cleaned and repaired by the time I moved in a month later, I was greeted by these sights. The audio is the Landlord chocking to explain it all away and d..."

Well I was doing research for videos on YOUTUBE on Hamilton, like Hess village and the like and I saw this...actually watched both parts.

This is beyond OMG..... and I thought I had seen some nasty places!!

[mic67]

Humm...Why all the silence ...wtf this ought to be a place when there is a Royal visit. What is the problem....? Isnt anyone interested???? Oh ya I forgot this URL is only interested in the good of hamilton, cuz the glee club said previously said we know what the bad is.

Mic67

[bigguy1231]

Originally Posted by mic67

Humm...Why all the silence ...wtf this ought to be a place when there is a Royal visit. What is the problem....? Isnt anyone interested???? Oh ya I forgot this URL is only interested in the good of hamilton, cuz the glee club said previously said we know what the bad is.

Mic67

You got that right, it's those rose coloured glasses they have all been wearing.

[highwater]

Originally Posted by mic67

Humm...Why all the silence ...wtf this ought to be a place when there is a Royal visit. What is the problem....? Isnt anyone interested???? Oh ya I forgot this URL is only interested in the good of hamilton, cuz the glee club said previously said we know what the bad is.

Mic67

Don't take it personally. The forum hasn't been as active in general, it's summer and people aren't always around. I saw this and was thoroughly repulsed, but didn't have a chance to respond as I was heading out of town for the weekend. I've since forwarded it to a few people. It should be posted in the rental licensing bylaw thread. Scumbags like this are exactly what the bylaw is all about.

[thistleclub]

Teranet says the percentage change of the average sale price in the Hamilton CMA for December 2013 was up 3.66% vs December 2012, but down 0.58% compared to November 2013.

RAHB says the percentage change of the average sale price in the Hamilton CMA for December 2013 was up 7.1% vs December 2012, and up 5.0% compared to November 2013.

The difference may be explained by the fact that Teranet’s National Bank House Price Index measures using sales pairs: Any property that has been sold at least twice is considered in the calculation of the index. RAHB, meanwhile, tallies all sales in a given market, dividing the total dollar volume of sales by the number of sales in that month, and complicates matters by including Haldimand County markets Dunnville and Caledonia in the mix.

Both measures have obvious limitations.

Originally Posted by mattgrande

Aren't prices almost always lower in December?

From last January: "The December price index was up 3.1 per cent in 2012 — the lowest increase in three years. On a month-to-month basis, the index was down 0.4 per cent from November — marking one of the weakest Decembers on record going back 13 years."

[emge]

I would watch more of it but I don't want to spend 9 minutes on a video I've seen some of the same "leftovers" when looking at houses to buy.

Having found a decent (and inexpensive) place to rent here, I know how difficult it is - but it is quite possible if one looks long enough (and takes advantage of nice places with poor advertising or poor pictures).

I completely support regulating rental housing- the profit margins on rental housing are high enough that cutting into them isn't going to harm landlords.

Besides seeing tons of garbage, electrical, fire, and structural issues, I was particularly "thrilled" with the place I saw in a rather nice area of town... that had the stairwell's window pane completely missing and pigeon excrement all over the sill. Lovely.