The benchmark price fell 1.4 per cent to $779,500 last month. Photo credit: AP/David Zalubowski
As the Bank of Canada continues on its campaign to crash the Canadian economy by aggressively raising interest rates in order to bring inflation back down into its arbitrary target range, local housing prices once again dipped downward last month.
For the eighth month in a row, housing prices in Hamilton deceased in October.
According to the latest statistics released by the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB), the benchmark price for all properties sold in the city last month was $779,500, down 1.4 per cent from September.
Calculated using a sophisticated statistical model that considers a home’s quantitative and qualitative features, benchmark pricing provides a more stable indicator than average prices, as it tracks changes to ‘middle-of-the-range’ or ‘typical’ homes and excludes extreme high-end and low-end properties.
In all, 455 properties exchanged hands in October, up 30 from the month previous, however, still down significantly (43.5 per cent) on a year-over-year basis.
There were 956 new listings last month, bringing the city’s inventory up to 1,391 properties.
“There is no question that we have seen a shift from the unsustainable activity that occurred throughout the pandemic as some of the supply challenges have eased,” RAHB president Lou Piriano said in a press release last week.
“While fewer new properties are being listed below $800,000 (across the entire RAHB market area), there are more opportunities for buyers looking to move up in the market. The danger for both buyers and sellers can be trying to time the market.”
The benchmark price for detached properties last month was $826,200, down 8 per cent year-over-year. The benchmark price for semi-detached properties was $731,100, 3 per cent lower than October 2021.
The benchmark prices for row and apartment-style properties actually went up 7 and 14 per cent, respectively, on a year-over-year basis last month – with the former finishing October at $648,600, and the latter $517,400.
In terms of area, Flamborough, Ancaster and Waterdown remained the most expensive localities in the city to purchase property, all with average prices well above the $1 million mark.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Hamilton Centre and Hamilton East remained the most affordable areas to purchase a home. In October, the average sale price in Hamilton Centre was $536,432.
The average number of days on the market last month was 29.1.
