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(September 7, 2012 – Hamilton, Ontario)  The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported the residential market saw a 13.5 per cent increase in average sale price in August compared to the same month last year.    Median sale prices also saw gains over August of last year.

Remember number of sales are down and there is less “inventory” out there so that will help to increase average sales price on top of regular appreciation.
Seasonally adjusted* sales of residential properties were 13 per cent lower than the same month last year, with the average sale price up 13.3 per cent for the month.  Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 8.4% per cent lower than the same month last year.
Seasonally adjusted data for residential properties for the month of August:
                                                         

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

1070

0.4%

-0.5%

-2.0%

-5.7%

-8.4%

Sales

2904

-3.9%

-4.3%

-0.1%

-1.2%

-13.0%

Average Sale Price

$372,908

4.5%

3.9%

4.2%

3.3%

13.3%

 The seasonally adjusted average price for August is the highest we have on record.  The decreased inventory has created greater competition among home buyers.  In the condo market, August saw more sales than new listings, indicating a very strong seller’s market.    
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 7.1 per cent higher for the first eight  months of this year compared to the same eight-month period last year.  Numbers of residential property sales are down 4.1 per cent.    New listings are down 8.6 per cent and there were 18.4 per cent fewer listings active at the end of the month.
The numbers for the month of August compared to August of last year:

 All Property Types – Actual 

2011

2012

% Change

Listings

1825

1527

-16.3%

Sales

1248

1116

-10.6%

Average Sale Price

$328,713

$368,875

12.2%

End of Month Listing Inventory

4797

3822

-20.3%

Residential Only – Actual
Listings

1693

1390

-17.9%

Sales

1199

1069

-10.8%

Median Sale Price

$281,500

$295,000

4.8%

Average Sale Price

$321,338

$364,578

13.5%

Average Days On Market

55

44

-20.0%

End of Month Listing Inventory

3866

3009

-22.2%

Freehold Only – Actual
Listings

1402

1162

-17.1%

Sales

979

845

-13.7%

Median Sale Price

$303,000

$319,000

5.3%

Average Sale Price

$338,553

$392,945

16.1%

Average Days On Market

54

44

-18.5%

End of Month Listing Inventory

3200

2569

-19.7%

Condo Only – Actual
Listings

291

228

-21.6%

Sales

220

224

1.8%

Median Sale Price

$228,450

$241,550

5.7%

Average Sale Price

$244,730

$257,566

5.2%

Average Days On Market

59

45

-23.7%

End of Month Listing Inventory

666

440

-33.9%

Commercial Only – Actual
Sales

49

47

-4.1%

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.
*Seasonal adjustment removes normal seasonal variations, enabling analysis of monthly changes and fundamental trends in the data.