If you're wondering if things have been shifting in real estate, it's not your imagination.
Those of us in the business have been watching things simmer since we started the year. Of course, most everything hinged on what would happen with interest rates. Would they continue to rise? Or would rates stabilize?
We also wondered if the occasional busy moment was anecdotal. Was everyone else seeing what we were, or was it just a blip on the radar?
The results are in. The slow burn we saw in January took us right through to March, normally the start of the busy season. What we saw instead was consistent and reasonably steady activity, albeit fewer listings than we would like to see at this time of year.
But now that April is nearly behind us, it is evident the market has a new story to tell. Things are heating up all over the suburbs west of the GTA.
Let’s take a look at what happened in the three very popular suburbs of Oakville, Burlington, and Waterdown between January and the end of March, 2023.
Oakville
Always a popular suburb even in a slower market, Oakville’s story continues to be an optimistic one.
Detached home sales are going strong, with an average price of just over the $2 million dollar mark. This is a sizeable increase from January’s average detached price of $1.79M, and marks a 14.5% increase from the beginning of the year.
Freehold townhomes in Oakville also did very well between January and March showing a 11.7% increase in average sale price. Towns in January were selling at $1.03M, and by March this had escalated to $1.153M.
Condo apartments fared differently in Oakville, as they tend to. The average selling price of a condo apartment in Oakville during January was $975,833. By March, this had dropped to $811,418, a 17% reduction. It seems that when the rest of the home styles are selling well, condo apartments fall out of favour.
Burlington
Detached homes in Burlington show a similar trend between January and March, showing a 7.9% increase in average home price in the area. Detached houses on average were selling for $1.33M in January, climbing to $1.43M in March.
Freehold townhomes in Burlington were selling for $911,952 on average during January of this year, and by March this had increased to $948,187, a 4% increase.
We saw very little change in condo apartment pricing in Burlington between January and March.
Waterdown
Detached homes between January and March showed a notable increase in Waterdown as well. In January, the average price for a detached home in this community was $1,044,300. By March, this had crept up to $1,143,900, an increase of 9.5% in just 2 months.
In Waterdown, the average price of all home styles combined during January, $930,656, moved all the way up to $1,051,626 in March, a 13% increase in a short space of time.
We’re seeing similar trends across most municipalities and home styles west of the GTA, between January and March of this year.
Conclusion
In sum, the apparent market shift is not in your imagination. Home pricing seems to have stabilized and is even beginning to creep up again.
What will this mean for house hunters? Depending on the community you are searching in and the home style you have in mind, you may expect to find yourself in competition for the home you want. In other areas, if a home is well-priced and shows well, you can expect it to sell quickly.
Are you thinking about selling your home? If so, it’s hard to imagine a better time than right now to leverage a lot of interested buyers and insufficient inventory.
Whether buying or selling, ensure you keep in close touch with your chosen real estate professional. We stay very close to the activity of the market and can guide you on a successful buying or selling strategy.
If you have not yet decided on a REALTOR® who will be helping you with your home purchase or sale, get in touch with us today.***
References:
REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington (2023). RAHB MARKET INVENTORY RISES TO PRE-PANDEMIC LEVELS.
Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (2023). GTA REALTORS® Release January Stats.
Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (2023). GTA REALTORS® Release March Stats.
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