You are currently viewing So many buyers, so few properties…

So many buyers, so few properties…

The Real Estate market in early 2021 has been described as crazy or extremely active. This is due to many influences including low interest rates, higher savings, pent up demand, and low inventory among other things.  While most of these are self-evident, I really wanted to paint a picture of how low the inventory was, or in plain english…just how few properties were on the market.

To get an accurate picture though, I will be comparing numbers from 2021 to 2018/2019, before the lockdown began. These numbers fluctuate slightly so please view them as guidelines and if you require exact numbers, please do the research yourself. The results will be similar.

For this comparison, we are looking at residential detached, semi-detached, linked, and townhouses including freehold and condos in the Hamilton and Burlington areas. We are not including apartments, trailers, modular, or vacant land.

In December of 2018 Hamilton had 1,067 active listings available for purchase. In December 2020 Hamilton had only 287 active listings available. That is a staggering 27% of what was available in 2019. In January of 2019 there were 1,101 active listings and February 2019 had 1,137. January and February of 2021 had 277 and 395 active listings respectively. That is 25% compared to January of 2019 and 35% compared to February 2019. For the past three months (not including March) we have seen 27% of the number of listing in December, 25% in January and 35% in February in the Hamilton area.

December 2018 in Burlington had 259 active listings while December 2021 had 80. That is 31% of the number of hoses available for purchase. January of 2019 had 290 listings while February had 330.  January 2021 had 90 listings while February had 131. This works out to 31% and 40% respectively. For the past three months (not including March) we have seen 31% of the number of listings in December, 31% in January and 40% in February in the Burlington area.

The number of properties available for purchase at any given time will fluctuate from year to year but having a 75% reduction is absolutely shocking. This has led to incredibly strong competition and some properties seeing over 70 offers and getting 130% of list price if not more!

Hopefully now when you hear a real estate agent saying there is low inventory, you can understand HOW low it actual is. When will the market go back to “normal”? While nobody can predict that with accuracy, I can see that it does seem to be cooling off. Some properties that are holding off offers to encourage what was recently almost an inevitable multiple offer competition, are seeing very few offers and in some case none! Will it pick up and get crazy again? I hope not. That type of market is not heathy and only benefits the seller and the listing agent, leaving many others to continue their search.

Do you have questions about the real estate market, or are you thinking of buying, selling, or investing in real estate? Please contact Ryan Ligeza. I look forward to hearing from you.

Watch the short video on this topic on YouTube.

Leave a Reply