June 2022 Market Report
Tags: HAMILTON REAL ESTATE JUNE 2022
The Hamilton-Burlington Market Area had 1232 sales of residential properties for May. This means sales decreased by 5.1% compared to last month, and they were also down compared to May 2021 by 31.9%. For Listings, with good reason it seemed like there were signs popping up everywhere. They were up from April at 2631 which was an increase of 7.3% month over month and 16% from May 2021. The average sale price was down. A decrease of 1.7% for the combined market area from March, putting it at $995,408. However prices were still up 17.6% compared to May 2021. The months of inventory increased from 1.2 months to 1.7 months of inventory.
So once again numbers have changed. Of course they have, it's a free market.
The headlines once again though love to proclaim the sky is falling and the prices of houses are crashing. Depending what articles you read I'm sure you're not certain of anything at this point.
The truth is the market itself is confused. Up can be Down and Left can be Right.
However, whether you're a buyer or a seller you can get ahead in this game. You can't time the market, but you can play in it, and play well.
Ok, hear me out.
During the big run-up of early Q1 2022, it’s no secret that new records were being set with every single sale.
Supply was meagre. Historically low. I'd even wager it was scary low.
Homes that were previously selling for $500K were suddenly trading for up to $750-900K. Higher priced homes that typically sit a little longer, that trade in the $1.2-1.4 million range started selling in bidding wars for up to $1.6-$1.8 million.
This was all in a matter of weeks.
A home that sold today for $1.3 could and would sell for $1.4 tomorrow.
Buyers were highly frustrated; Sellers were delighted.
If you had a house or condo that wasn’t selling in early 2022, you had a significant, like really significant pricing problem.
How did buyers get approved for all of these big sales? How did appraisals work out during all of that madness?
Interest rates were insanely low, boosting the buying power of every buyer—especially entry-level buyers. Entry-level buyers were in heavy and I mean HEAVY competition. They drove the $400-500K wartime homes up to $600-700K plus virtually overnight.
What else are you supposed to do when you’re up against 55 other legitimate offers? You need a home…you wanted to get on the property ladder, so you made it happen any way you could.
So now here we are with the Shi(f)t hitting the fan, and the media is pouring as much gas on it as they can. Is it real, yes. Is it as real as they want us to believe in their headlines? No.
If you bought in January or February, your property might be worth a little less today. That's a might, not a for certain.
Either way, does that matter? Why should it? Are you a day-trader? Did you sell your house or condo a couple of months after buying it to take an actual loss? Probably not.
Last week I reported that more than half of all houses and condos still sold in multiple offers and still for over the asking prices.
Not all properties are worth less today than they were in early Q1.
Yours could even be worth more. It depends on what type of home it is and the location. How desirable is it.
Some communities are piling on listings while other remain fairly undersupplied still.
Lots of buyers are sidelined. Some by choice, some by circumstance and supply overall is increasing.
But is supply increasing across the board?
It’s not actually
So, if you're selling you need to get in front of the buyers that are still out there. Get in front and stay in front of them. Let them know your house is "The One" that they can't miss out on.
But even with less competition, how’s the market for buyers right now? And maybe more importantly what does it all mean to you?
Buyers right now are obviously having an easier time finding and actually purchasing the property of their 'dreams'.
But as a buyer, you should still be prepared for competition. And don’t be afraid of competition because you think the market is “down”, and don’t sleep on a great property because you think there’s further downward pressure. Things can change in a heartbeat anywhere around the GTA.
You should be buying right now.
We've actually had a drop in supply in some pockets last week. If you’ve been following my reports, you know that when I see 3 weekly drops in a row, that usually signals a return to an 'aggressive' seller’s market. So I'll be keeping a close eye on all of that.
Also if you’re a city buyer, please in this market you must work with a specialized local agent in the community you’re looking in. Your cousin from Toronto isn't going to cut it right now.
Why?
Imagine you’re an out-of-area agent, and you think the market is still strong everywhere, in every pocket of the city. You come in over the top and make an unnecessarily high offer. I see it happening almost every week and HOPE that they come across my listings.
I love it when that happens for our sellers :)
Or you think the market is super soft and waste a ton of your clients time and effort losing on property after property. Again there's still competition.
As I said the overall market is confused and some of the different pockets are super confusing right now—Martha St. as an example.
Our detached we sold for way over asking. Listed at $599,900 and sold for $730,000. A bigger house across the street, listed a week later by a mega team at $749,900 then decreased to $699,900 and is still sitting.
My clients picked up a west mountain detached a couple of weeks ago for $765K. $104K under the original asking price. Another one down the street weeks prior listed at $799K and sold for more than $200k over. What’s the difference? Prep and marketing plus time on the market.
An out-of-area agent wouldn’t have even thought to go in at that home at $100K under asking when a similar option sold for over $1million.
Specialization matters, especially in a market like this.
Sellers, also do not sell if you don’t need to. The last thing we need are unnecessary listings with people trying to “test the market.” Now’s not the time for that! That ship has sailed for now. If you're not seriously working your home as a product on the market, you will be disappointed.
Hold! Hold is the name of the real estate game. You are the supply. You have control. You shouldn’t make short-term decisions that will affect your life.
Hold unless you need to sell.
Those that need to sell, and are truly doing it right are still doing well in many cases. Especially if they have a strategy they're following.
And by doing well, what I mean is they’re achieving prices similar to Q1 2022.
The one size fits all days of marketing are waning. Many are selling well still but with different strategies. Not all properties should be under-listed, some should. Not all communities are supporting the sold for over asking.
Pricing strategies are part of your marketing. Again, what works in lower Stoney Creek may not work up the hill.
The overall differences we’re seeing is improperly prepared and marketed properties are sitting. When they sit for even a few weeks sellers often begin to panic. They're often of the old mindset that everything sells within days. So a few weeks feels like an eternity.
So if you’re one of those buyers that has some flexibility, this is your time to shine.
It’s a confusing market out there for the layperson. We exist for the sole purpose of removing the confusion and the anxiety for our Buyers and Sellers.
Anyway, this type of market requires a lot more one-on-one attention, so please call/email/text, and we’ll talk through your specific situation.
Now let’s look at the numbers.
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