Halton Hills Housing Update - Ep.148

Hi everyone! Welcome to this week's Halton Hills housing update. So, I missed last week’s update because I was on vacation, so this week I’m going to quickly cover what happened over the past two weeks in terms of sales and new listings, and then we will talk about where inventory is currently sitting heading into Christmas!

So, for the week of December 13^th, we had nine sales and seven new listings in Georgetown. We have been pretty consistent between eight and 11 sales each week, so it will be interesting to see what happens in the new year with new listings slowing down. Last week, we had eight sales and only four new listings. New listings are really slowing down. We have been used to seeing new listings in the double digits every week, so seeing seven and then four just shows how much we’ve actually slowed down. Our sales are still remaining somewhat stable though, which is likely due to supply and demand. Since our supply is lower than the demand in certain price points, properties are still selling. That is also likely what is keeping our prices from plummeting. It’s just really interesting to watch! In Acton during the week of December 13^th, we had two sales and no new listings, and last week we had no sales and one new listing. So, there’s not a ton going on in Acton. The inventory here is still sitting pretty high and could use some movement. Glen Williams has had no sales in the last two weeks, and last week they had one new listing. Over the past two weeks, Limehouse hasn’t had any listings or sales. During the week of December 13^th, the rural market had one sale and one new listing, and last week no sales and no new listings. So, the theme has sort of been a couple sales in Georgetown, but no where else, and not a ton of new listings in any market. This is very common for December, and it always happens. It’s just interesting to watch this year because we are anticipating 2023 to not be the most amazing year for real estate. There’s a lot going on with interest rates and so going into January with low inventory isn’t surprising, but it will be interesting to see if it keeps our prices stable.

Now looking at inventory, this is the real piece! So, two weeks ago on December 6^th, we were at 142 active listings in all of Halton Hills. We are now down to 126 active listings. That is a huge gap between the 180/190 we were seeing in the summer. There are definitely big changes happening in terms of where our inventory is sitting and we’re only a few weeks away from getting back into double digits and under 100 if this trend continues. In Georgetown this week, we are down from 79 to 69 active listings. Georgetown is definitely the market that is feeling the most movement right now, and we were also had the highest levels of inventory here. 69 active listings though is the lowest since around March, so it will be interesting to see how this continues to decline over the course of the next few weeks without seeing new listings come on the market.

Looking at our active price points, under $800,000 is down from 11 to 10 active listings. We actually have a couple of freehold properties under the $800,000 mark now, which is different. We were only seeing condo townhouses and condo apartments in this price point, so that’s a shift! $800,000 to a million is down from 17 to 15 active listings. This price point is still our most active price point. It has the most variety available for the price, and it is still where we’re seeing the majority of our sales happening week to week. One to 1.5 million is down significantly from 31 to 22 active listings. This is a bit of a shock because it's been sitting really high. At one point we had over 50 units in this price point, so to be down to 22 just shows that properties are either coming off the market or being purchased, and our inventory is definitely declining. 1.5 million plus is the only price point that is up. We were at 20 active listings, and are now at 22, and the products in this pocket are just not moving. It’s almost rare to see a sale over 1.5 million now. If you are a seller in this price point, you either need to re-evaluate where your pricing is or hold on for the long ride because prices are likely not going up in the new year. So, this price point and this pocket especially, is the one that I would say is hurting the most. And again, a lot of the people are just holding on to what their neighbors got and it's really not realistic for the current market that we're in. People need to realize we are down between 20 and 30%, so if you’re neighbor sold for 2 million, you’re likely under the 1.5 mark right now. It’s just something for sellers to keep in mind.

Looking at Acton, inventory is technically down but still pretty high. We are down from 28 active listings to 26, which is high for Acton. Inventory isn’t dropping the way it is in Georgetown, but as we continue to see less inventory in Georgetown, we will likely start to see sales pick back up in Acton – and I’ll be watching that. Glen Williams is slightly up from seven to eight active listings, and not a lot is moving in the Glen because most of it falls over the 1.5 million mark. Limehouse remained the same at four and the rural market went from 24 active listings to 19. So, the rural market definitely saw a drop, and it was mostly correlated to properties coming off the market. However, for their inventory to be under 20 is something we haven't seen in a long time either.

There was definitely a lot to report on today but everything that’s happening is exactly what we thought would happen in December. We are not seeing a ton of new listings, but sales are still happening, especially in Georgetown, at a pretty consistent level. I think we are going to have low inventory going into January and I would argue that January will probably be the best month to sell in if you plan to sell in 2023. I really think we are going to see a big shift in the market and things will probably continue to decline throughout 2023. Interest rates are just really high, there’s lots of people from 2017 and 2018 in the renewal process, and it’s just going to be a different market in 2023. So, if you are a seller, I think January would be the best month for you think about putting your house on the market because we are going into it with very low inventory levels compared to where we have been in the back half of 2022. So, I’ll be back next Tuesday to report on everything as December continues. I hope you all have an awesome week and an even better Christmas!