(September 7, 2010 – Hamilton, Ontario) The Greater Hamilton-Burlington area resale market reported a total of 1021 units sold in August, indicating a decrease of 9.5 per cent from the same month last year but an increase of almost 2 per cent over July of this year, according to Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) statistics released by the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB). Total unit sales for the first eight months of 2010 are being reported at 8.1 per cent higher than the same period last year, while new units listed are 14.4 per cent higher year-to-date.
“Our August sales are being measured against a very strong August market last year,” said Joe Ferrante, RAHB President, “but are still entirely in the realm of normal August numbers. Year-to-date numbers indicate that we can still expect to see higher sales at the end of this year compared to last year.”
Residential properties sold during August totalled 978 which included 783 freehold properties and 195 condominiums. Commercial sales for August, including industrial, farm, vacant land and business, totalled 43 units.
The average price of freehold residential properties sold in the month of August was $318,904, an increase of 1.7 per cent over August last year. The average sale price reflects the dollar volume of residential sales divided by the number of total residential units sold.
In the condominium market, the average price of condominiums in August was $223,154, an increase of 3.4 per cent over August 2009.
The total number of units listed for sale during August was 1591, which is a 13 per cent increase over the number listed in the same period in 2009.
“According to the revised housing forecast issued by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), we are expecting a downward trend through the fall,” added Ferrante, “but we still expect to come out with a decent year, sales-wise.”
Unit sales reflect “all property types” including residential, condominiums, commercial property, farmland and sale of businesses.

source;

REALTORS® Association
of Hamilton-Burlington