Hamilton-area home sales slip 38% in December from 2021, show shift back to balanced market

Realtors in the Hamilton-Burlington area say a “pullback” by potential purchasers amid recent rising lending rates and previous price gains supported inventory growth across the region in December.

The Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) says the increase was double the monthly average for 2022 and primarily in homes above $800,000, precipitating a shift from an “extreme sellers’ market” to one “relatively balanced.”

However, overall inventory was nearly 20 per cent below long-term averages for the region in homes priced under $600,000.

“The pandemic, combined with historically low interest rates, created an exponential surge in housing demand. Supply could not keep pace, resulting in price growth that far exceeded expectations over a two-year period,” RAHB president Lou Piriano explained in a release.

“2022 saw conditions start to shift back to a more balanced market.”

The RAHB says the average residential price of properties across the market area moved to $808,295 in December 2022, down about 13 per cent year over year and down about three per cent month over month.

The region’s 458 reported sales marked a decline of 37.8 per cent from December 2021.

Inventory was up slightly year over year, 3.9 per cent, presenting 584 new listings last month.

The reported inventory of 1,582 in the Hamilton-Burlington area for December represented a 376.5 per cent increase in availabilities compared with the same month in 2021.

Hamilton also saw a rise in new listings during December, bumping inventory levels away from recent record-low levels.

After hitting a record high in the first quarter of 2021, prices have fallen, with the average in Hamilton checking in at $750,601 last month.

It represents a 14.6 per cent drop compared with December 2021, however, prices remained about 16 per cent higher than those reported for all of 2021.

The average price for a detached home in December was $817,515, down 14.9 per cent year over year.

Hamilton’s apartment-style dwellings were priced around $471,463, dropping 21.1 per cent compared with December 2021.

Sales were down some 42.6 per cent year over year, with just 284 in December. New listings also slipped compared with December 2021 by about 12.5 per cent, representing some 350 new properties coming onto the market.

On average, homes costing more than $1 million in the Hamilton area were in Flamborough and Ancaster.

The lowest average prices for December were in Hamilton West, where a home was around $538,378, down 18.7 per cent year over year.

Piriano says sales activity fell across all property types in Hamilton in 2022.

Despite a drop in sales of about 50 per cent year over year, condos continued to outperform long-term averages in Hamilton.

“The apartment-condominium sector continued to outperform the long-term average for the area, as more inventory relative to historical levels gave consumers more choice in this property category,” Piriano said.

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