Hamilton’s housing and rental market continued its hot streak even as a second wave of COVID-19 hit the city in December.
The price of a home in Hamilton increased 15.3 per cent year over year to $659,409 in the fourth quarter of 2020, according to a survey released Friday from Royal LePage.
That’s higher than the national aggregate price of a home in Canada, which increased 9.7 per cent to $708,842 year over year.
The median price of a two-storey home increased 17.1 per cent to $698,511, while the median price of a bungalow increased 11.8 per cent to $604,827. The price of a condominium increased 0.7 per cent to $381,008.
Overall, Hamilton’s real estate market saw double-digit gains in home prices in 2020.
Joe Ferrante, broker of record with Royal LePage State Realty, said he expects this trend to continue well into 2021.
“Multiple-offer scenarios have become commonplace and buyers are offering tens of thousands of dollars above the asking price to secure deals,” Ferrante said in a statement.
“With inventory at an all-time low, some sellers held off on listing their properties in 2020 on account of having little or no purchase options.”
Ferrante attributes the rising prices to a “combination of two things — interest rates and a definite shortage of product.”
“It’s a simple supply and demand issue when you think about it,” he said. “People are just not putting their houses up for sale like they used to, while the amount of people into our market outside the Hamilton area and from around the GTA seem to be buying up whatever we have, thus driving the prices up.”
The rental market has become quite competitive as well, noted Ferrante, as many people who can’t find property to buy are renting in the meantime.
“The lack of inventory is causing first-time buyers, who want to take advantage of low borrowing rates, to be priced out of the market,” he said. “These buyer hopefuls now find themselves competing for rental properties instead.”
The pandemic has created an “untraditional” year for the real estate market. After slow sales in April, the ripple effect of the pandemic on consumer behaviour resulted in more residents working and schooling from home.
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According to a recent report from the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB), sales of single-family homes in the area increased in December by 38 per cent compared to December 2019, while the average price rose by 29 per cent to $829,226.
In comparison, Ancaster in 2019 was the local area with the highest average home sales price at $772,811.
Jacob Lorinc is a Hamilton-based reporter covering business for The Spectator. The funding allows him to report on stories about education.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
MONTREAL – The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal-area home sales rose 9.3 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, with levels slightly higher than the historical average for this time of year.
The association says home sales in the region totalled 2,991 for the month, up from 2,737 in August 2023.
The median price for all housing types was up year-over-year, led by a six per cent increase for the price of a plex at $763,000 last month.
The median price for a single-family home rose 5.2 per cent to $590,000 and the median price for a condominium rose 4.4 per cent to $407,100.
QPAREB market analysis director Charles Brant says the strength of the Montreal resale market contrasts with declines in many other Canadian cities struggling with higher levels of household debt, lower savings and diminishing purchasing power.
Active listings for August jumped 18 per cent compared with a year earlier to 17,200, while new listings rose 1.7 per cent to 4,840.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
