Hamilton-Burlington home sales down in Nov. as prices rise

Home prices appeared to move slightly upward in November, compared to the month before, according to new numbers from the Hamilton-Burlington realtors association.

The median price of all houses and condos sold across Hamilton and Burlington was $460,000 last month, up 1.6 per cent from October and up 8 per cent from November 2016.

The median price is a point at which half of the homes sold for higher prices, and half sold for lower. It's less susceptible to being skewed by extremelyexpensive or inexpensive sales.

For just Hamilton, the price gains were stronger in November. The median price of homes sold last month was $435,000, up 2.4 per cent from October and up 7.4 per cent from November 2016.

Burlington's median price was $645,000, which was still up 4 per cent from November 2016 but was down nearly 2 per cent from October.

The overall November median price was still down 14 per cent from a peak reached in April before the provincial government stepped in with attempts to cool the Greater Golden Horseshoe housing markets.

Many fewer homes sold last month than did at the same time a year ago. Sales were down 17 per cent in November.

There are nearly a record number of homes on the market. And across the region, homes are taking longer to sell.

Sellers of detached houses spent an average of 37 days waiting for a successful offer, up from 25 days a year ago.

And condo sellers had to wait an average of36 days, compared to 26 days on the market in November 2016.

The CEO of the Realtors Association of Hamilton-Burlington said he's expecting a soft December.

"Now that we are going into the year-end holiday season, we expect to see a bit of a lull that is the traditional rhythm of the real estate market," GeorgeO'Neillsaid.