Sales down, prices up as Hamilton, Burlington realtors weather the pandemic

Local home sales are down significantly during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the average sale price continues to rise.

The Realtor’s Association of Hamilton-Burlington has released its report for May and confirms the sale of 852 residential properties last month.

That’s down 42 per cent compared with May 2019, but it’s a 43 per cent increase when compared to April of 2020.

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As for prices, they averaged more than $655,000 last month, a 10 per cent increase from last year.

RAHB president Kathy Della-Nebbia says “new listings and sales are understandably down” due to the novel coronavirus, but she adds that a balance of buyers and sellers is holding the average sale price “fairly steady.”

She adds that the province moving safely into phase one of reopening has improved consumer confidence and “if progress continues and the weather cooperates, we should expect higher activity in June.”