Here’s What Happened for April 2020

As predicted and expected COVID-19which was officially declared a Pandemic on March 11th, 2020, has had an effect on the Real Estate Market. We have now had a full month to look at how the statistics are changing as a result of the New Ways of doing business. As of March 23rd, Real Estate was deemed an Essential Service, so we were allowed to continue to help our clients, however, it is still no way near “Business As Usual”. The Ontario Real Estate Association is still suggesting we limit face to face appointments and that includes showing homes. There are still some companies and Realtors and Sellers that are not allowing any showings at all. They are asking people to put in offers “conditional on the buyers seeing the property in person”. Video Calling, Skype, or Zoom are the new ways of meeting, now on-line instead of in person. Virtual showings, online evaluations, and even home inspections are sometimes being performed virtually. Digital signatures are now the norm. Lawyers are still able to meet people face to face to help Purchasers and Sellers complete their transactions. Please note that if you had a Pre-Approval done before Covid, you will need to get it updated before buying. The rules are changing. The Banks and other Lenders are being much more strict not only on you as the Purchaser but on the areas and districts they are providing Mortgages for. Please, let me put you in touch with one of my trusted Mortgage Brokers to make sure you have the right information. We all will continue to find ways to help our clients that need to sell and help those who need to buy, in a safe way.

Here is a look at the first full month of the statistics since the shutdown. April 2020 had only 827 Total Residential Listings come through the Hamilton Real Estate Board, which is expectedly down from the 2049 Listings in April 2019, as reported by The REALTORS ® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (RAHB). Hamilton had 557 of those (down from 1304 in 2019) and Burlington’s share was 186 (down from 518 in April 2019).

Residential Sales located throughout the RAHB market area (including Burlington and all the outlying areas covered by The REALTORS ® Association of Hamilton-Burlington) of 482 Properties are down 63.4% from April 2019 and also down 56% from last month, March 2020. The overall average price for residential properties increased by 4.3% from April 2019 to $614,412, however it is down 6.6% from last month. Hamilton’s Residential Sales (including Flamborough, Dundas, Ancaster, Waterdown, Stoney Creek and Glanbrook) were just 337, down 59% from 816, with an average price of $559,559 up 6% from April 2019. Burlington had 105 Sales which is down 72% from 369, with an average price of $810,046 which is up 9% from April 2019.

The end of month listing inventory which is a good indication of the type of market currently being experienced shows 980 Active Residential Listings giving Hamilton 2.9 months of inventory, down 24% from April 2019. Burlington has 312 Active Residential Listings giving it 3 months of inventory, down 34%. Average days on the market dropped from 25.5 to 23.9 in Hamilton and also decreased in Burlington from 24.6 to 20.8. Right now the Hamilton-Burlington Area is sitting in a Balanced Market, where the ratio of Homes Sold to Homes Listed is between 40% and 60%, currently sitting at 58.5%. In other words, 5.8 homes are sold for every 10 new listings. Note that this has dropped since February 2020 from a strong Sellers Market at 73.7%! It will be interesting to see how the rest of 2020 looks once the market starts to get back to normal after the 2020 COVID-19 Pandemic has loosened its grip on our society.  Homes Sold to Homes Listed Ratio: Buyers Market is below 40%, Balanced Market is between 40-60%, and Sellers Market is above 60%.  For the rest of the article – Click Here