Burlington real estate: a stable, relatively balanced, leaning towards a sellers’ market.

News 100 redBy Staff

March 7th, 2018

BURLINGTON, ON

 

The Burlington real estate market was very much like Oakville – comparing February 2017 to February 2018 is not a helpful comparison but comparing January 2018 to February 2018 sheds a lot of light on the state of the market in Burlington.

In a word – a stable, relatively balanced, leaning towards a sellers’ market. Inventory at the end of February was fairly normal at 237 freehold properties for sale and just over 330 including condos. Less than 40 listed properties have been on the market for over 60 days.

We saw 103 freehold sales in February which was up from 86 in January. Days on market have decreased significantly where we saw an average 41 days in January and 29 days in February.

The most interesting statistic for February was the sale price versus the original listing price versus which was at 97.87%. The sale price versus the final listing price was 99.12% which suggests that a large percentage of properties started out at one price, reduced and then sold for very close to the reduced price.

Something for sellers that have been on the market for a while to bear in mind.

Rocca for February

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4 comments to Burlington real estate: a stable, relatively balanced, leaning towards a sellers’ market.

  • Alfred

    Stephen.The City of Burlington is surrounded by the City of Hamilton on one side. Town of Oakville on the other. Lake Ontario to the South and The Greenbelt to the North. Clearly we have no land left to build on. 300,000 immigrants a year coming to Canada. Many want to live in the GTA. Supply and demand, as you are aware dictate prices. Lack of trades, over regulation an infestation of professional Nimby’s, lack of creative housing policies in this community. All contribute to high prices. Housing in Burlington is in high demand, when that drops so will the prices. Waterloo, Cambridge and Kitchener prices are roughly 1/3 of those in Burlington. These are beautiful Cities with lots of land and housing choices. The maximum house sizes in much of Burlington are 25% lot coverage. 75% of the lot remains untouched If these new renovations are ridiculously larger than the previous houses. They must have been very small houses on big lots. Clearly not an efficient use of land. The City is obligated to provide all types of housing. Even for the rich folks. I know many of the local developers and they appear to be doing quite well with the little restraint they have. The developers and salespeople contribute a great deal financially with the creation of high paying jobs and in other ways to this and other communities. Lets not forget that. For those who feel compelled to know their neighbors business. Their is a computer at City Hall outside the clerks office. Just punch in the address of any house that you suspect. The owners name and info. is all there. I do it all the time.

  • Stephen White

    To quote the late American business professor, Aaron Levenstein: “Statistics are like a bikini. What they reveal is interesting. What they conceal is vital”.

    I live in southeast Burlington. A year ago a single-unit residence would go up for sale and it would be sold in a maximum three days. Today, within one block of my house, I can count three homes that have been on the market, priced reasonably, and that are still unsold six months later. I can also count three homes on my street that are vacant. One is undergoing renovations, but the other two…who knows.

    The housing bubble is imploding. Affordability is a major problem especially for Millenials who lack the equity or capital to make a downpayment. The amount of debt being carried by many households is alarming. What also is concerning is the proliferation of new high rise developments, and how long it will take them to sell. Older homes in my neighbourhood are being purchased by “renovators” who are moving in, gutting the property, making the homes ridiculously larger, and then selling them to people outside the community. Drive along Lakeshore Road and count the number of multi-million dollar homes, and then count the number of times you ever see anyone on the property. (Note to Gazette: it might make for an interesting expose to see who actually owns these properties). My suspicion is that many homes now are being held by offshore interests or as an long-term investment.

    Having worked in the real estate development industry earlier in my career I learned early on that real estate salespeople and developers all have the gift of gab and are great with marketing and public relations schemes. However, when it comes to business management, financial prudence and common sense many of them would benefit from a little more restraint.

  • William

    Wow – missed the real story. Real estate prices are down year over year in all but one neighbourhood. That’s good news for the many shut out of the real estate market.

    • Gary Scobie

      Agree William. Real estate agents can try and swing the story anywhere they’d like, but the facts show that sales are down and prices have dropped over the year at a minimum of 8% overall where more than one house sold in a neighbourhood. I think more drops will come in 2018 year over year.