(May 6, 2013 – Hamilton, Ontario) The REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) reported sales, listings and the average sale price for all property types listed through the RAHB Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in April showed increases over the same month last year.
There were 2,202 properties listed in April, a 6.5 per cent increase over April of last year. All property sales numbered 1,521, representing a 5.5 per cent increase over the same month last year. The average sale price of $382,682 was an increase of 1.8 per cent from the previous April.
“Spring has arrived for the resale real estate market,” said RAHB CEO Ross Godsoe. “We started seeing more listings and sales come through the MLS® system first thing in April. All property sales are not only higher than last year, but are the second highest in an April for the last 20 years.”
Seasonally adjusted* sales of residential properties were 4.5 per cent lower than the same month last year, with the average sale price up 2.4 per cent for the month. Seasonally adjusted numbers of new listings were 2.2 per cent lower than the same month last year.
Seasonally adjusted data for residential properties for the month of April, 2013:
| Seasonally Adjusted Residential Only |
Percentage change compared to
|
|||||
|
Apr/13
|
Mar/13
|
Feb/13
|
Jan/13
|
Dec/12
|
Apr/12
|
|
| New Listings |
1489 |
-2.7% |
1.5% |
3.8% |
1.0% |
-2.2% |
| Sales |
1069 |
0.8% |
5.2% |
3.3% |
4.5% |
-4.5% |
| Average Sale Price |
$377,537 |
0.5% |
1.6% |
6.1% |
5.8% |
2.4% |
Actual overall residential sales were 5.1 per cent higher than the previous year at the same time. Residential freehold sales were five per cent higher than last year while the condominium market saw an increase in sales of 5.6 per cent. The average sale price of freehold properties showed an increase of 1.9 per cent over the same month last year; the condominium market, however, saw a decrease of 8.6 per cent when compared to the same period last year.
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.
The average days on market increased from 38 days to 40 days in the freehold market and from 41 days to 42 for condominiums.
“Listings are up from last year, but there are still fewer listings on the market than there were a year ago,” noted Godsoe, “and the number of listings is still below the average for the last ten years. The seller’s market which has existed in our market area continues, even though we saw some signs of a more balanced market at the end of the first quarter.”
Year to date, listings are down 2.9 per cent compared to the same period last year, while sales are seven per cent lower. The average sale price for the first four months of the year is 5.7 per cent higher than the same period last year.
