June was life-busy, wasn’t it? For those with student-aged children, there were year-end projects due, class trips, tests, exams and graduations. We were busy with all of that here, and we even managed a quick getaway to the cottage with Emese’s sister and her family from out of town, which was wonderful!
Speaking of getting away, we’re going to let you in on a little secret. If you’re self employed, take note.
There are very few things in life that are certain. However, we’ve learned to count on this:
If work is slower, and we have time to take a few days or a week of vacation, the phone will undoubtedly ring off the hook the moment we arrive at our destination.
This sequence of events is so reliable that we’ve learned to plan for it and be prepared to service our client’s needs seamlessly. If you were one of those clients, thanks for trusting us to get you to the next step of your journey, even while we took some time to be with our family.
A quick update on the ducks and chickens, and then we’ll get into how the real estate market is performing. The ducks, Aviva (“the Diva”) and Jesse have grown incredibly quickly. They’ve lost most of their duckling fuzz, their feathers are white, and their wings have grown to nearly full span. Aviva is incredibly vocal, and she takes exception to any of the chickens entering her personal space bubble. Hence her name, Aviva the Diva. Jesse, for now, seems happy to copy whatever Aviva is doing. The chickens have also grown incredibly and are very happy to forage as they run around their new home in our back yard. They know to give the ducks their space, but they also seem to love pushing their buttons at times. Whenever we hear loud quacking, it’s because Aviva is protesting that one of the brave hens has courageously drank from the ducks’ water.
Now for some real estate updates. Even though June was a busy month for us, the real estate market continued to slow as buyer activity slowed and new listings keep hitting the market.
We’ve noticed a significant difference between different price points of the market. Properties that are listed at $600,000 or less are performing well. Many buyers end up competing for these properties and they sell quickly. Rural properties that are an acre are also selling well as the trend of “home steading” becomes more popular, even those priced at the $1M mark.
One thing is true in any sector of the market though: anything that is overpriced is not selling. It has never been more important to price at market value.
If sellers are pricing too high, buyers simply discard the listing in favour of the abundance of similar listings that better priced.
Here are the numbers for June, 2024 in Hamilton and Niagara.
The number of unit sales in June was:
- ⬇️ to 486 in Hamilton (down 24.18% from May)
- ⬇️ to 557 in Niagara (down 9.72% from April)
The median home price in June was:
- ⬇️ Down 1.38% in Hamilton, to $749,500
- ⬆️ Up 4.76% in Niagara, to $660,000
Inventory has increased yet again in both markets:
- 🗓️ Hamilton’s inventory sits at 3.90 months or 119 days, up from 88 days in May.
- 🗓️ Niagara’s inventory sits at 5.34 months or 162 days, up from 138 days in May.
As always, if you or your family, friends, coworkers or neighbours are thinking about making a move in real estate, we would love to go “a head above” for them. We are never too busy for any of your referrals!