The Numbers Are In

by Darrin DeRoches January 13 - 19, 2011

The numbers are in for the year 2010 and they look pretty good, depending where you live. December ended with a huge spike in the average house sale which really means a bunch of high priced homes sold and the average price in Hamilton – Burlington was $347,163.  The year ended with 13,355 residential changing hands which was an increase of 2 per cent over 2009.      The beginning of the year started sluggish since people were reeling from the tough 2009 depression that never materialized.  The middle of the year was sluggish when the scary HST came in and people thought they would have to pay HST on the total price of the home.  So the big lesson of the year is not to listen to the hype the media keeps feeding you.  That said listen to this.  The prediction of 2011 is the majority of sales will happen in the first part of the year since the mortgage rates will begin to rise near the end and everyone will be rushing to buy before the rates go up!  Be prepared and get your bank or lender to guarantee the rate for at least 60 days and get it in writing!     The biggest increase where seen in the west end of Hamilton where the average home rose 10.6 per cent. That is huge! But the homes in central Hamilton rose an astounding 15.1 per cent.  Not that is really huge! The mountain homes dropped 1 percent while the east end lost 5.9 per cent on average.  The truth of it all is when you compare year to year things may look up or down but if a couple of large deals happen in an area then the average will be a little skewed.  Take an overall look and most people have realized a seven per cent increase in their house values. Take that and add it to the pay down of their mortgages and everyone made at least 10 per cent in real estate last year!      The moral of the story is as always ‘”invest in real estate! “ Get in before the rates rise and consider areas that will increase – west end, Pier 4 and certain investments in central Hamilton. There are more and more investors coming from outside the city and snapping up properties.  Invest in your own city since you have a better understanding of the right areas to invest in. Do not act like our city council.  Pick an area, pick a plan and execute before Burlington or some other city tries to steal it from you! 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.