In a year, the real estate market has cooled, these neighborhoods in Hamilton have remained hot

A year in which the Hamilton area real estate market has cooled, both in terms of sales and price, urban areas continue to be the subject of strong demand , said the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.

Houses around the Gage Park and St. Clair areas outperformed both in price and in number of sales compared to the rest of Hamilton in 2018, said Anthony Pbadarelli, Senior Markets Analyst.

"That means there are more buyers than the average and fewer ads.It's that perfect storm," Pbadarelli said Thursday morning at Hamilton-Burlington, when Economic Outlook for the Market for 2019, co-hosted by CMHC and the Realtors Association of Hamilton. Burlington.

Pbadarelli has been kept in a room filled with real estate agents, highlighting the strengths and weaknesses of the market, while identifying areas of Hamilton where demand is up or down.

After years of intense activity on the market, things have slowed down in 2018, said CMHC. From January to October, sales dropped by 15% over the previous year, which Mr. Pbadarelli attributed to the labor market uncertainties caused by the NAFTA negotiations and to variations in the labor market. mortgage rates.

The average price of a house in Hamilton also decreased slightly, down 2% from the previous year.

Gibson / Stipley, Crown Point and the North Sherman neighborhoods are all places where the price outperforms the rest of the city, he said. It was a similar story in the McQuesten, Parkview and Homeside neighborhoods.

This will be the highest number since the mid-1970s for [condo] departures.– Anthony Pbadarelli, Senior Market Analyst at CMHC

It was the opposite on some parts of the mountain, said Pbadarelli. The Mountview, Westcliffe and Buchanan regions all posted underperforming sales, while the neighboring regions of Centremount, Inch Park and Eastmount underperformed their prices.

According to Pbadarelli, some areas in West Hamilton performed better than sales, but lower than prices. "It's because there are so many stocks in this area compared to the number of sales," he said.

At the same time, Ancaster generally underperformed, while Dundas and Waterdown were relatively neutral, he said.

Restatement planned for 2019

House prices and sales slowed in 2018, according to CMHC figures. (Graeme Roy / Canadian Press)

CMHC anticipates that the situation will change in 2019. Pbadarelli said it expects sales to increase by 11 to 18% next year and that average prices rise by 4 to 10%.

These figures would put the average selling price of a house in the region between $ 620,000 and $ 585,000.

CMHC also found that housing starts had risen sharply this year. The five-year average of housing starts in the region is 2,788, compared to 3,292 units in 2018.

Condo projects soar

"It's way above the average," said Pbadarelli. He predicts a "reduction" between 2,650 and 3,150 housing starts next year.

As evidenced by the impressive number of cranes in the sky, 2018 was a record year for condominium projects, said CMHC. The five-year average of condominium starts in the region is 737. Last year, there were 1,803 condominium starts.

"This is going to be the highest number since the mid-1970s for [condo] start, "says Pbadarelli.

While condos could be booming, vacancy rates are lower than the average of the last 10 years, he said.

"There is not much choice for renting … there is always a need for more new units, definitely."