October Numbers

by Darrin DeRoches November 10 - 16, 2011

The real estate market continues to show increases in listings, sales and average sale price in the month of October compared to last year’s numbers. The condominium market had the largest increase with 11.8 percent increase in sales in October.  This would work out to be about 199 condominium sales which beat the 10 year sales average of 194 units in a month. This is just one month out of the year but when the numbers come out for the entire year you will see a large increase in condo sales. The City Square Project in the Durand area of Hamilton announced their second tower will be on sale this month and with the successful sellout of the first tower they made adjustments to make the majority of the condos to be in the 650 to 700 square foot size. This condo seems to be high on the list of condo buyers and I am sure the numbers for condo sales in November will beat last year’s numbers as well. The average sale price for a condo in 2010 was $237,119 and is now at $251,012 year to date which is a 5.9 percent increase.  This being said, if you were to buy a condo today and it is ready in two years you can make at least 10 percent on the value of the property before you even move in.  Basically the money you put down on the down payment will be recouped!     The residential freehold market also increase by only one percent in October over 2010 but the interesting part is the average sale price is up 5.1 percent – that is a great number! Where else, beside the real estate market, has there been such a strong and steady increase in value? Year to date the average sale price is at a four percent increase over last year. The average price for a Residential property in our market is up from $297,562 in 2010 to $311,591 so far this year.  The real estate market continues to grow and will hold strong in the future.  All the turmoil in Europe and all the natural disasters have not affected the real estate market in Canada and more importantly here in our neck of the woods.     We are in the beginning of November and the market has begun to slow down from the strong fall market. There may be less people looking to buy and sell but this too may be an advantage. A potential client wants to wait until January to list their property since this is when the market starts to pick up. I mentioned to them would they like to be a listing today that stands out in the market or a listing in January that is just one of hundreds a day that come out daily?  What do you think?  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.