Hamilton-Burlington real estate cools off slightly in August: RAHB

The Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB) is reporting that Hamilton’s red hot real estate sector cooled off slightly in August.

In its August 2020 report, the RAHB says 1,272 homes were sold last month, a 21 per cent decline compared to July.

However, the association says year-over-year sales spiked 12.7 per cent, an indication of just how active the market has been this summer.

RAHB president Kathy Della-Nebbia calls it a typical August, but says the coronavirus pandemic has thrown the area’s traditional trends out of whack, pointing to lower than normal activity in the spring because of the pandemic-related economic slowdown.

“This month’s activity was in line with what we would typically see for August; however, due to COVID-19, the trends for the year are not what we would normally experience,” said Della-Nebbia. “Over the spring, we saw lower than normal activity, but a balance between supply and demand. Into the summer months, we saw an increase in activity where we would normally see a decrease.”

The average price of a home in Hamilton and Burlington was $694,690 in August, an increase of 0.24 per cent from last month, but a 16.3 per cent spike from August 2019.

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“As we move into the fall, we would expect a return to higher activity,” she said. “With the potential for a second wave of the virus, we don’t want to make any predictions, but RAHB realtors will continue to find houses for buyers and buyers for sellers in a healthy and safe way.”

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