Hamilton Is Still Undervalued

by Darrin DeRoches December 29, 2011 - January 4, 2012

I read an interesting article about the top condo price in Mississauga this week. The building is referred to as “Marilyn Monroe” and has a listing of a penthouse in the price range of 3.2 million dollars. It seems absolutely ridiculous that this property has such a high price tag in this bedroom community. The article goes on about how if this property was in Toronto it would be worth a ton more and the latest high price condo sold for over 30 million in Toronto. What the f#@*!     Mississauga is nothing but a bedroom community of the big city of Toronto. They are reaping the benefits of being just 10 minutes down the road from the country’s biggest city. Our community is only about 40 minutes down the highway from the big city, but it seems to be taking longer and longer to get there. So if Mississauga has a 3.2 million dollar condo for sale we must have at least a 1 million dollar condo in our city. Of course we do! Well, not really. Our highest priced home with acreage probably does not even reach the 3.2 million dollar condo price tag. Which brings me to the point that Hamilton is still undervalued.     I don’t know if we need an NHL team to be taken serious, or if we need to start tooting our own horn. But we as a city, need to realize what we have here! McMaster just rated on the top of the list for something about Research and Development and they responded with – we need to maybe promote the fact we are doing a great job when it comes to inroads in published papers and research. Whereas another reporting firm rated Toronto as one of the top medical research cities in the world and they are shouting from the rooftops.     Developers are coming to town and making inroads with no fanfare. Vandrich companies are building a whole new block in the downtown with no interviews or fanfare, since he has only been burned and raked over the coals in the past on every development they have done. Other developers have had full page spreads and articles written about them even though in the last five years they have not done one development. Lots of ink, no buildings. A new year is coming and we should start celebrating our achievements and boasting about our future. If Mississauga can have a 3.2 million dollar condo then Hamilton needs to start realizing our own value and promoting ourselves to everyone that we are the best place to invest and our real estate is undervalued and will only make a lot of money in the future. Happy New Year. Will 2012 be the year for Hamilton? V Darrin DeRoches is a local real estate and mortgage broker. He can be reached to answer questions, comments or stories about real estate experiences through this weekly column at mail@uniquerealty.ca.