Listings Increase As Real Estate Owners Cash Out
Recent statistics show that real estate owners and investors seem to be cashing out of the real estate market.
According to George O’Neill, CEO of Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington. “Listings continue to be the story; the difference is that two months ago we reported on the sustained low inventory of listings and this month we are talking about a record for new listings.” He said “The increase in listings suggests that homeowners have been watching the market, seen home values increase significantly over the last year or two, and decided to take advantage of those increases.”
The Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington reports that new listings have increases over the past two months, as current home owners in Hamilton take advantage of the hot real estate market.
A record of 3,208 new listings processed through the MLS system were reported in May. That was up 41.1% year-over-year and up 34.8% on the 10-year average.
The average home price was $604,848 in April, up 4% month-over-month and 24.8% year-over-year. Sales, however, were down 15.1% month-over-month but fairly steady at -0.6% year-over-year.
“Sales remained steady through the month of May,” O’Neill said. “With the increase in listings and steady sales, we appear to be moving toward more balance, which tends to be a healthier market overall.”
Despite sales falling significantly from April to May, the association argues the cause was not, in fact, April’s housing plan.
“The question I am asked most frequently is whether this change in the market relates to the Fair Housing Plan recently announced by the Ontario government,” O’Neill said. “Our members reported seeing a shift in the market even before the announcement. It’s possible that sellers read and heard that changes were coming and decided to act sooner rather than later. Sales remain strong, suggesting the Non-Resident Speculation Tax announced in April doesn’t seem to have had an influence in our area.”
