Sellers' Market

by Darrin DeRoches November 14 - 20, 2013

October was another strong month in the Hamilton – Burlington real estate market. We continue to increase the sales and prices while the amount of listing decreases. This is the reason it is a sellers’ market. The low inventory allows the seller to increase their price since competition is low and buyers are out there looking for properties. The average sale price of $397,403 was an increase of 3.9 per cent over the previous October. There were 1730 properties listed in October, an increase of five per cent over October of last year.  End–of–month listing inventory is 6.3 per cent lower than last year.     The fact that the average sale price is almost $400 grand in Hamilton is big news. It was not long ago Hamilton broke the $300 grand mark and the last couple of years the market has been increasing at 6 and 7 per cent. All the so called experts are now calling for the market to stay strong through 2015 which tells you to invest now. Hamilton is still undervalued and will continue to grow until it levels off to the surrounding areas levels. One day there may be a slight “adjustment” in the market but Hamilton will weather the adjustment. If you look into the future there are a lot of developments coming in the condo market, residential and most importantly commercial lands. These factors will strengthen the Hamilton real estate market and where else will you get a 7 per cent return.     The old Lifesaver Building near Gage Park just announced it will be converted into condos and the city property in the old Banisters strip club is open looking for rents higher than they expected. There is also a business park being built downtown on old brownfield properties. These projects have taken over five years to come to market but they are finally happening. The condos in the old government building on Caroline are about to be closed in and the sign is almost up to start selling them. The building on the corner of Hess and King has drywall up and looks to be almost ready to sell and rent. These projects are varied in size and uses but all of them are showing a strong market and huge success. Brownfields, burnt out buildings, old unused spaces are finally coming back to life.     These are all indications that the market will remain strong and you should be considering on investing in your city. The phones keep ringing from out of town investors looking to buy up property in our city and we should reap the benefits as well. The big question is which ones will be the best investment. Take Burlington for example, the condos on the water gave huge returns as compared to condos being built by Upper Middle Road. The right investment in the right project will be the big question next year. 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 sold@uniquerealty.ca.