(November 5, 2012 – Hamilton, Ontario)  The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported the residential market saw an 11.9 per cent increase in average sale price in October compared to the same month last year.    The median sale price also saw gains over October of last year.
Seasonally adjusted* sales of residential properties were 9.4 per cent lower than the same month last year, with the average sale price up 9.9 per cent for the month.  Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 7.8 per cent lower than the same month last year.
Seasonally adjusted data for residential properties for the month of October:

Seasonally Adjusted
Residential Only
Percentage change compared to 
Oct/12
Sep/12
 Aug/12 
  Jul/12
 Jun/12  
 Oct/11
New Listings

1527

-10.4%

0.8%

-2.7%

-3.1%

-7.8%

Sales

1047

1.8%

-1.9%

-1.8%

-2.6%

-9.4%

Average Sale Price

$372,290

1.0%

0.0%

4.3%

3.7%

9.9%

Actual residential sales overall were 0.8 per cent lower than last year at the same time.  The condominium market saw a slight gain in number of sales over last year while the freehold market saw a slight decline in sales with a 1.1 per cent decrease.  The average sale price of freehold properties showed an increase of 14.8 per cent over the same month last year, while the condominium market experienced a small decrease of 2.5% when compared to the same period.
The average sale price is based on the total dollar volume of all residential properties sold.  Average sale price information can be useful in establishing long term trends, but should not be used as an indicator that specific properties have increased or decreased in value.
Year to date, the average sale price for residential units is 8 per cent higher for the first ten  months of this year compared to the same ten-month period last year.  Numbers of residential property sales are down 5.5 per cent and new listings are down 13 per cent.
The numbers for the month of October compared to October of last year:

All Property Types – Actual 

2011

2012

% Change

Listings

1661

1631

-1.8%

Sales

1104

1108

0.4%

Average Sale Price

$338,797

$381,874

12.7%

End of Month Listing Inventory

5096

4103

-19.5%

Residential Only – Actual
Listings

1516

1485

-2.0%

Sales

1062

1054

-0.8%

Median Sale Price

$282,000

$305,500

8.3%

Average Sale Price

$328,490

$367,490

11.9%

Average Days On Market

52

45

End of Month Listing Inventory

4176

3307

-20.8%

Freehold Only – Actual
Listings

1269

1221

-3.8%

Sales

841

832

-1.1%

Median Sale Price

$308,000

$333,500

8.3%

Average Sale Price

$347,467

$398,873

14.8%

Average Days On Market

51

46

End of Month Listing Inventory

3514

2813

-19.9%

Condo Only – Actual
Listings

247

264

6.9%

Sales

221

222

0.5%

Median Sale Price

$235,990

$248,500

5.3%

Average Sale Price

$256,275

$249,876

-2.5%

Average Days On Market

56

44

End of Month Listing Inventory

662

494

-25.4

Commercial Only – Actual
Sales

42

54

28.6%

Every community in RAHB’s marketing area has their own localized residential market.  Please refer to the accompanying chart for residential market activities in select areas of RAHB’s jurisdiction.
For more information about specific statistics for your area, please do not hesitate to contact me.
Steve