Low inventory of listings; average residential sale price still higher than one year ago

(June 6, 2012 – Hamilton, Ontario)  The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported 1552 property sales through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) for the month of May.   RAHB also reported an 8.6 per cent increase in average sale price for the month compared to May of last year.
Listing inventory continues to be down across the board when compared to the same month last year.  The number of active listings at month end is almost 900 fewer than were active at the same time last year.  
The condominium market is the only sector that saw a small decrease in average sale price for the month.   The same market also experienced the most significant decrease in listing inventory compared to the previous year:  the 526 active listings represent a 27.6 per cent decrease from May of last year.
Year to date, residential listing inventory is just over 20 per cent down from the same January-to-May period last year.  Sales are just over one per cent higher year to date, and average sale prices have risen 7.7 per cent over the same five-month period.
Every community in RAHB’s marketing area has their own localized residential market.  Don’t hesitate to contact me for the data in your area
*Seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal variations, enabling analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends in the data.