Summer – what summer? Are we the only ones that feel like Victoria Day was just a couple of weeks ago? For some reason, this summer flew by! You may have noticed that we didn’t send an update in August. We were busy with our summer too, spending time with family and friends, celebrating birthdays, anniversaries and other milestone events, while also finding time to work and spend some time at the cottage. Yet, here we are in September, with our regularly scheduled programming back in full swing.
We hope you had a couple wonderful, safe, enjoyable, peaceful and rejuvenating months of summer.
Now for some real estate updates.
Today, the Bank of Canada announced their third rate drop of 2024, dropping the overnight rate another 0.25%
What does this mean for the fall market?
This year, we’ve given up on trying to predict the market. Here’s what we know:
- The spring real estate market was short lived (only 2-3 weeks of increased activity).
- Two previous interest rate reductions of 0.25% had little to no effect on the market.
- Summer inventory built to record highs.
- Prices cooled in the summer months.
- The last week in August saw increased activity.
Here is our best guess as to what is in store for September and October:
- This rate drop, combined with the typical fall market will likely see an increase in buyer activity from the summer months
- When buyers become active, and demand rises, prices usually increase.
- We believe that the gains of the fall market will erase the losses of the summer months, and we’ll head into the winter at the same prices that we had in early spring of this year.
The next Bank of Canada rate announcement is scheduled for October 23, 2024. If there is yet another rate drop, that will continue to spur the demand and keep the real estate market actively healthy.
Here are the numbers for August, 2024 in Hamilton and Niagara.
The number of unit sales in June was:
- ⬇️ to 414 in Hamilton (down 15.16% from July)
- ⬇️ to 524 in Niagara (down 3.14% from July)
The median home price in June was:
- ⬆️ Up 2.52% in Hamilton, to $729,950 (up from $712,000 in July)
- ⬇️ Down 2.58% in Niagara, to $623,500 (down from $640,000 in July)
Inventory has increased yet again in both markets:
- 🗓️ Hamilton’s inventory sits at 4.46 months or 136 days, up from 119 days in July.
- 🗓️ Niagara’s inventory sits at 5.59 months or 170 days, up from 165 days in July.
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!
