Housing market

[Pearlstreet]

Well, then they can rent a spot on Pearl Street !

[thistleclub]

RAHB PR:

Stable Real Estate Market Forecast for 2014

(January 22, 2014 – Hamilton, Ontario) The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) expects to see average sale prices of residential properties increase by 3.5 per cent in 2014, according to president Tim Mattioli. He predicted a market similar to 2013.

In a pre-recorded conversation with RAHB CEO Ross Godsoe, Mattioli noted that despite a drop in consumer confidence, continued low interest rates and stable unemployment rates in the Hamilton CMA bode well for the coming year.

Mattioli predicted 14,000 residential property sales in 2014 and 19,500 residential listings. Average sale price is expected to increase by about 3.5 per cent.

Results from 2013 showed that all property listings and sales had increased over the previous year, with average sale price up by 6.5 per cent. Total dollar volume from the sale of all properties was over $5.474 billion, more than a 10 per cent increase over 2012.

The residential market similarly showed listings and sales up over 2012 with the average sale prices up by 6.7 per cent over the previous year. Average days on market remained steady at 44 days in 2013. For much of the year, a seller’s market prevailed.



Average Sale Price, 2013

Flamborough $533,104
Burlington $486,044
Ancaster $483,292
Waterdown $441,569
Dundas $386,386
Grimsby $352,777
Glanbrook $346,639
Stoney Creek $327,154
Hamilton West $319,602
Hamilton Mountain $282,444
Hamilton East $209,243
Hamilton Centre $177,045

Average Sale Price Increase ($), 2013 vs 2012

Ancaster $63,711
Waterdown $60,451
Flamborough $54,947
Dundas $48,202
Grimsby $45,605
Stoney Creek $36,060
Burlington $32,174
Hamilton West $26,537
Glanbrook $24,103
Hamilton Mountain $17,845
Hamilton Centre $15,246
Hamilton East $10,249

Average Sale Price Increase (%), 2013 vs 2012

Waterdown 15.86%
Ancaster 15.18%
Grimsby 14.85%
Dundas 14.25%
Stoney Creek 12.39%
Flamborough 11.49%
Hamilton Centre 9.42%
Hamilton West 9.06%
Glanbrook 7.47%
Burlington 7.08%
Hamilton Mountain 6.74%
Hamilton East 5.15%

[thistleclub]

Pricier Hamilton-Burlington homes a hot commodity as Toronto money moves in
(Hamilton Spectator, Steve Arnold, Jan 28 2014)

High end real estate is booming in Hamilton-Burlington.

The latest edition of the ReMax High End report, which tracks the sale of the most expensive houses in the country, concludes sales of such homes rose 31 per cent last year.

For Hamilton-Burlington, the report defines "high end" as anything over $750,000. It found 436 such sales in 2013, up from 334 the year before.

Conrad Zurini, broker of record at ReMax Escarpment Realty, said demand locally is being driven by low interest rates, low inventory of properties for sale and high demand from Toronto-area housing refugees.

"The last time McMansions were this hot was in 2007," Zurini said. "Low interest rates are really helping to fuel the upper-end sales."

The average price for a local home in the upper end last year was $931,000.

The ReMax study shows steady growth in sales at the top end of the local price range, from 160 sales in 2009 to 436 last year. That's an increase of 173 per cent.

About a quarter of the high end sales here are to buyers from Toronto and area.

"They're looking around Toronto first and then coming here to see what their money can buy," Zurini said.

Ross Godsoe, CEO of the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington, supports that assessment.

"There's no doubt there's a lot of activity at the high end of the market," he said. "A lot of it is driven by buyers from the east who buy here at what they think are bargain basement prices."


Read it in full here.

[thistleclub]

From RAHB’s January 2014 Market Report:

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 781 property sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) system in January. This represents a 2.8 per cent increase in sales over January of last year. There were 1,496 properties listed in January, a decrease of 9.5 per cent from the same month last year. End-of-month listing inventory was 12.6 per cent lower than last year at the same time. The average sale price of $395,445 was 9.3 per cent higher than last January. Seasonally adjusted sales of residential properties were 2.7 per cent higher than the same month last year, with the average sale price up 10.3 per cent for the month. Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 4.4 per cent lower than the same month last year.

Average Sale Price, Jan 2014

Ancaster $517,497
Flamborough $516,647
Burlington $481,956
Waterdown $453,758
Glanbrook $376,004
Stoney Creek $360,353
Grimsby $348,500
Dundas $347,823
Hamilton West $323,745
Hamilton Mountain $303,454
Hamilton East $197,613
Hamilton Centre $172,706

Average Sale Price Increase ($), Jan 2014 vs Jan 2013

Glanbrook $72,398
Ancaster $63,068
Stoney Creek $43,558
Hamilton Mountain $36,911
Burlington $26,522
Hamilton West $23,086
Hamilton Centre $7,875
Dundas $738
Waterdown -$5,680
Hamilton East -$15,423
Grimsby -$20,938
Flamborough -$32,453

Average Sale Price Increase (%), Jan 2014 vs Jan 2013

Glanbrook 23.85%
Ancaster 13.88%
Hamilton Mountain 13.85%
Stoney Creek 13.75%
Hamilton West 7.68%
Burlington 5.82%
Hamilton Centre 4.78%
Dundas 0.21%
Waterdown -1.24%
Grimsby -5.67%
Flamborough -5.91%
Hamilton East -7.24%

[thistleclub]

Via CMHC:

Hamilton Housing Start Data by Type, Jan-Dec 2013 (Jan-Dec 2012)

Burlington
Single: 90 (144)
Semi: 14 (2)
Row: 163 (165)
Apt: 547 (338)
Total: 814 (649)

Hamilton (Amalgamated City)
Single: 1,027 (1,204)
Semi: 86 (92)
Row: 476 (805)
Apt: 157 (108)
Total: 1,746 (2,209)

Hamilton (Old City)
Single: 237 (261)
Semi: 28 (8)
Row: 55 (180)
Apt: 149 (66)
Total: 469 (515)

Ancaster
Single: 240 (267)
Semi: 0 (0)
Row: 36 (87)
Apt: 6 (39)
Total: 282 (393)

Dundas
Single: 5 (10)
Semi: 0 (0)
Row: 0 (0)
Apt: 0 (0)
Total: 5 (10)

Flamborough
Single: 132 (223)
Semi: 22 (36)
Row: 92 (109)
Apt: 2 (3)
Total: 248 (371)

Glanbrook
Single: 295 (285)
Semi: 0 (20)
Row: 216 (146)
Apt: 0 (0)
Total: 511 (451)

Stoney Creek
Single: 118 (157)
Semi: 36 (28)
Row: 69 (283)
Apt: 0 (0)
Total: 223 (468)

Grimsby
Single: 42 (41)
Semi: 0 (0)
Row: 107 (70)
Apt: 0 (0)
Total: 149 (111)

Hamilton CMA
Single: 1,159 (1,389)
Semi: 100 (94)
Row: 746 (1,040)
Apt: 704 (446)
Total: 2,709 (2,969)


• 89% of CMA's single detached starts were in Hamilton
• 72% of CMA's semi-detached starts were in Ancaster and Stoney Creek
• 64% of CMA's row starts were in Hamilton, and 45% of those were in Glanbrook
• 78% of CMA's apartment starts were in Burlington

[Beedok]

One thing that I've never been sure about with those numbers, with row and semi projects is that a count per project or per unit? (With Rows that could make a huge difference.)

[SteelTown]

On CHCH they had a segment about a house on Hamilton Mountain that received 44 offers, apparently it's a new local record. The house is 4 houses away from Mohawk College.

[CaptainKirk]

Originally Posted by SteelTown

On CHCH they had a segment about a house on Hamilton Mountain that received 44 offers, apparently it's a new local record. The house is 4 houses away from Mohawk College.

Saw the story. House needed lottsa work.

Asking price was $220k, sold for $282k

[bigguy1231]

They said 44 offers, but they didn't say how many different people were involved. It could have been just 2 groups doing the bidding and considering how close to Mohawk it is they were probably commercial enterprises.

[thistleclub]

From RAHB’s February 2014 Market Report:

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 949 property sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) system in February. This represents a 0.7 per cent decrease in sales compared to February of last year. There were 1,405 properties listed in February, a decrease of 5.9 per cent from the same month last year. End-of-month listing inventory was 12.3 per cent lower than last year at the same time. The average sale price of $398,973 was 5.8 per cent higher than last February. Seasonally adjusted sales of residential properties were less than one per cent higher than the same month last year, with the average sale price up 6.4 per cent for the month. Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 5.4 per cent lower than the same month last year.

Average Sale Price, Feb 2014

Flamborough $749,688
Ancaster $494,611
Burlington $481,705
Waterdown $449,313
Grimsby $375,573
Glanbrook $356,192
Stoney Creek $351,812
Dundas $351,722
Hamilton West $333,067
Hamilton Mountain $308,591
Hamilton East $213,144
Hamilton Centre $188,338

Average Sale Price Increase ($), Feb 2014 vs Feb 2013

Flamborough $262,094
Ancaster $57,506
Glanbrook $32,494
Hamilton Mountain $31,644
Waterdown $31,196
Burlington $29,058
Stoney Creek $25,440
Hamilton Centre $18,053
Hamilton West $14,285
Hamilton East $11,221
Grimsby -$33,951
Dundas -$51,081

Average Sale Price Increase (%), Feb 2014 vs Feb 2013

Flamborough 53.81%
Ancaster 13.16%
Hamilton Mountain 11.43%
Hamilton Centre 10.60%
Glanbrook 10.04%
Stoney Creek 7.80%
Waterdown 7.46%
Burlington 6.42%
Hamilton East 5.56%
Hamilton West 4.48%
Grimsby -8.29%
Dundas -12.68%

Source: RAHB Market Reports

[thistleclub]

Demand for townhouses driving increase in housing starts
(CBC Hamilton, Mar 10 2014)

After three months of declines, Hamilton’s housing starts are trending upward again — thanks in part to a growing demand for townhouses.

Housing starts were up in February in the Hamilton census metropolitan area, which includes Burlington. There were 2,269 starts in February compared to 2,090 in January.

This follows three consecutive monthly declines, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said Monday. The trends also show that home buyers are shifting toward less expensive townhouses more than single-detached dwellings.

“Townhouse starts continued last month’s strength,” said Abdul Kargbo, the corporation’s senior market analyst for Hamilton and Brantford.

“Townhouse starts were up in the City of Hamilton and the Township of Grimsby. Meanwhile, single-detached starts recorded the sharpest year-over-year decline since March 2009.”

The trend is calculated using a six-month moving average of the monthly seasonally adjusted annual rates of housing starts.

[Beedok]

Yay, the fall of the detached home is starting. Townhouses aren't quite all the way, but a clear improvement.

[thistleclub]

Via CMHC:

Preliminary Housing Start Data, Hamilton CMA

Single-Detached
Feb 2013: 55
Feb 2014: 42 (-24%)

All Others
Feb 2013: 201
Feb 2014: 188 (-6%)

Total
Feb 2013: 256
Feb 2014: 230 (-10%)

FWIW, Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge saw a 42% drop and Toronto CMA saw a 43% drop in in single-detached.

[thistleclub]

Hamilton ranks #77 of 201 municipalities nationwide in MoneySense’s Best Places to Live 2014 survey, a drop from #63 (of 200) in 2013.

The city previously ranked #59 (of 154) in 2009, #79 (of 179) in 2010, #74 (of 180) in 2011 and #77 (of 190) in 2012.

Hamilton was ranked the 12th best large city in Canada in 2014, down slightly from its #11 placing in 2013.

Burlington ranked #5 over-all on this year’s index (previously #4 in 2009, #3 in 2010, 2011 & 2013, and #2 in 2012), and was once again named the #1 mid-sized city in Canada.

[thistleclub]

Increasing development discounts
(CATCH, Apr 4 2014)

More financial incentives for growth are being advocated by city staff who believe that already steeply-discounted development fees are not enough to boost Hamilton’s competitiveness, and who contend additional concessions should be made to attract large corporations. On the residential side, fees for new homes are set to climb 27 percent as the city completes the five-year update of its development charges bylaw.

The draft calculation presented this week to the subcommittee overseeing the review would see house builders contribute $35,670 towards servicing costs of a new single family unit – up more than $7500 from the current rates that were set in 2009 and adjusted annually for inflation.

The jump reflects significant increases in the expected spending on a range of city-wide services from roads and recreation to libraries, transit and airport expansion. It will now include a share of parking construction costs and a small amount for the conservation authority to review development proposals....

Just over half of the total charges are earmarked for water, sewer and stormwater infrastructure. The sewer portion is actually being reduced because slower than projected growth has allowed the city to delay some expansion of the sewage treatment plant by nearly a decade.

Development charges allow municipalities to recover some growth costs, but provincially-mandated exemptions and discounts mean about a quarter have to be paid by existing taxpayers. Additional cuts are approved by city council for a variety of reasons and these impose a shortfall of about $16 million a year. Water rates are being used to cover $9 million annually, while the rest is made up either by delaying projects or borrowing to top up the development charges account.

The most expensive discounts are provided to industrial developers as a way to out-compete other cities in attracting new businesses. Staff are proposing to freeze the rates at the current level of $9.60 a square foot instead of the $19.65 the city is entitled to collect. Since the latter figure has gone up $3.50, the effect is to increase the industrial discount to 52% from its current 41%.....

Staff are proposing that the 90 percent discount applicable in downtown Hamilton be gradually reduced – by 5 percent a year – to lower taxpayer costs while still encouraging additional investment in redevelopment of the core.


Read it in full here.

[thistleclub]

From RAHB’S March 2014 Market Report:

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1268 property sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) system in March. This represents a nine per cent increase in sales compared to March of last year. There were 1885 properties listed in March, a decrease of 1.3 per cent from the same month last year. End-of-month listing inventory was 12.9 per cent lower than last year at the same time. The average sale price of $409,684 was 4.3 per cent higher than last March. Seasonally adjusted sales of residential properties were 2.4 per cent higher than the same month last year, with the average sale price up seven per cent for the month. Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 8.4 per cent lower than the same month last year.


Average Sale Price, Mar 2014

Flamborough $547,096
Ancaster $515,506
Burlington $500,212
Waterdown $461,655
Dundas $401,748
Grimsby $371,963
Glanbrook $318,864
Stoney Creek $337,058
Hamilton Mountain $300,673
Hamilton West $294,921
Hamilton East $229,104
Hamilton Centre $201,892

Average Sale Price Increase ($), Mar 2014 vs Mar 2013

Grimsby $45,689
Ancaster $44,819
Dundas $32,548
Hamilton Centre $27,428
Hamilton East $27,403
Flamborough $23,055
Hamilton Mountain $17,498
Hamilton West $16,426
Stoney Creek $8,738
Waterdown $1,786
Burlington -$2,521
Glanbrook -$5,829

Average Sale Price Increase (%), Mar 2014 vs Mar 2013

Hamilton Centre +15.72%
Grimsby +14.00%
Hamilton East +13.59%
Ancaster +9.52%
Dundas +8.82%
Hamilton Mountain +6.18%
Hamilton West +5.90%
Flamborough +4.40%
Stoney Creek +2.66%
Waterdown +0.39%
Burlington -0.50%
Glanbrook -1.80%

Source: RAHB Market Reports

[thistleclub]

Hamilton housing prices slump: Teranet-National Bank index
(Canadian Press, Apr 14 2014)

Housing prices in Hamilton slumped 0.7 per cent last month, according to the Teranet-National Bank index of Canadian house prices.

Housing prices are still up 5.2 per cent year to year, but this is the first time in 15 years that there hasn't been a nationwide price increase between February and March.

Teranet also noted that several cities have seen several monthly declines over the past year – four out of seven months in Hamilton, seven in a row in Ottawa-Gatineau and six of the past eight months in Montreal and Quebec....

Teranet noted that prices in major Western cities tended to do better than those in Ontario and further east last month compared with February. On a year-over-year basis, the national index was up 4.6 per cent from March 2013 and four of the 11 cities had declines....

Montreal had the biggest month-over-month decline in March. Its index was down 1.8 per cent from February and down 0.7 per cent from March 2013. Calgary had the best showing, with its price index rising 1.4 per cent from February and 9.7 per cent from a year earlier.


Read it in full here.

[thistleclub]

From RAHB’S April 2014 Market Report:

The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1474 property sales were processed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) system in April. This represents a 2.7 per cent decrease in sales compared to April of last year. There were 2252 properties listed in April, an increase of 1.6 per cent over the same month last year. End-of-month listing inventory was 9.3 per cent lower than last year at the same time. Seasonally adjusted sales of residential properties were 2.6 per cent higher than the same month last year, with the average sale price up 7.3 per cent for the month. Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 5.7 per cent higher than the same month last year.

Average Sale Price, Apr 2014

Burlington $518,869
Waterdown $508,708
Flamborough $485,028
Ancaster $468,324
Dundas $407,414
Hamilton West $369,342
Stoney Creek $358,819
Glanbrook $346,376
Grimsby $333,377
Hamilton Mountain $298,993
Hamilton East $237,744
Hamilton Centre $199,211

Average Sale Price Increase ($), Apr 2014 vs Apr 2013

Waterdown $72,374
Hamilton West $52,079
Hamilton East $50,003
Burlington $36,568
Dundas $30,429
Hamilton Centre $28,312
Stoney Creek $23,305
Hamilton Mountain $20,621
Glanbrook $6,862
Ancaster $6,318
Flamborough -$27,300
Grimsby -$34,880

Average Sale Price Increase (%), Apr 2014 vs Apr 2013

Hamilton East +26.63%
Waterdown +16.59%
Hamilton Centre +16.57%
Hamilton West +16.42%
Dundas +8.07%
Burlington +7.58%
Hamilton Mountain +7.41%
Stoney Creek +6.95%
Glanbrook +2.02%
Ancaster +1.37%
Flamborough -5.33%
Grimsby -9.47%

[thmx]

Global News: Here’s the hottest housing market in Canada nobody’s talking about

The pace of home sales in this city has been growing faster than even in Toronto, while price gains in recent years have strained local affordability to levels that trail only Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal.

Calgary? Nope. Edmonton? No again.

Welcome to Hamilton, a city TD Economics says “has been an up and coming market since 2009.”

TD isn’t a developer hyping a new subdivision or condo tower. Rather, the bank is pointing out a trend that’s quietly avoided attention amid headlines of blistering market conditions elsewhere.

Yet demand for a home in the southern Ontario city of half a million is soaring, TD says in a new report.

“Along with Calgary, Hamilton’s housing market is currently the tightest among the major markets,” bank economist Diana Petramala said. “The tightness has reflected a combination of both strong demand and a lack of available supply.”

Since 2010, average home prices have climbed eight per cent a year in the city — despite a local economy that’s seen core elements like steel production and manufacturing dwindle.

The run-up has widened the gap between prices and average local incomes to 4.8 times (meaning the average home price is greater than four and-a-half times the combined income of an average Hamilton household).

Yet at $400,000, TD says the average home price is still relatively modest given the towering valuations next to Hamilton in Toronto.

The Toronto Real Estate Board said Friday the home prices in the greater Toronto area hit $569,000 last month. In the metro or “416″ area, prices were up seven per cent to $618,000.

GTA overflow

Hamilton’s market doesn’t appear driven by locals but rather house-hunters priced out of Toronto – and TD says it will continue to draw those buyers.

“Within the context of the GTA, Hamilton still looks reasonably affordable,” Petramala said. “The price differential will remain a draw for residents priced out of more expensive markets within the GTA, thus helping keep a floor under demand.”

And with a low level of new homes being built in Hamilton – which has seen developers pull back in recent years in favour of developments close to Toronto – the market is on sounder financial footing than in other areas where big supplies have built up, namely in Toronto where condo construction is still outpacing condo sales.

“Hamilton’s market will be somewhat insulated over the next few years by continued low supply on the market, “ Petramala said.

[matt602]

"The run-up has widened the gap between prices and average local incomes to 4.8 times (meaning the average home price is greater than four and-a-half times the combined income of an average Hamilton household)."

This part is definitely worrying.