Halton Hills Housing Update - Ep.228

Welcome to this week's Halton Hills housing update! It was another disappointing week for Sellers but there are some trends that may be emerging that I think will help our market. So, looking at sales this week, Georgetown had 12 which is a good and average number. When our market is moving we typically see between 11 and 13 sales, so 12 this week is a win. This time last year we were seeing between three and five sales so this is definitely better. The bad news is that we had 18 new listings and it doesn’t seem to be slowing down. In Acton this week there were three sales and seven new listings which is a lot for Acton. They have been seeing regular sales numbers though. Glen Williams had no sales and one new listing. Limehouse had no sales and no new listings and the rural market had no sales and three new listings. So, the trend of no sales happening in these higher priced markets is continuing. Looking at the properties that came off of the market and reduced their prices - we had a good week with these and I hope we can continue to see these numbers. So, we had 27 properties that did an adjustment or an exit this week. Of the 27, nine of them came back on the market at a reduced price, and we didn’t have anyone try an offer night this week. The great news os that we had 15 properties that exited the market and did not re-list. It really helped keep our inventory at bay this week. We had 29 new listings and only 15 sales so our inventory would be up significantly without the 15 properties who exited the market. 

Looking at active inventory, we remained the same at 230 active listings this week. We are near our all time record high which we had a few weeks ago. We need this number to basically be cut in half in order for our market to start to feel a positive impact. In Georgetown this week, we’re down slightly from 135 to 134 listings thanks to some terminations. Within our price points, under $800,000 is up from 14 to 15 listings. Eight hundred thousand to a million is also up from 28 to 30 active listings. The price point that is the most saturated is one to 1.5 million and it is up from 60 to 64 listings, which is a new all time high. We had nine properties that were in the 1.5 million plus price point that reduced their price to under 1.5 so that doesn’t help the inventory situation either. Realistically though, prices are coming down and I think it’s just a matter of time until this starts to happen in our other price points too. The majority of these 64 properties are in Georgetown South so there is a lot of competition there. Finally, 1.5 million plus is down from 33 to 28 active listings. 

Acton is actually down this week despite having seven new listings and that is because of terminations. They went from 28 to 27 listings so inventory is still pretty high there. There are quite a few properties available under a million dollars, so Acton will likely still see sales trickling in. Glen Williams remained the same at nine active listings. Limehouse is down from eight to seven listings, which is also because of a termination. The rural market is up from 50 to 53 active listings. So, something to note is that of our “outer” markets (Acton, Glen Williams, Limehosue and the rural market), there are 96 properties for sale right now and of the 96, only 26 of them are under a million dollars, most of which are in Acton. So, there is virtually nothing available under a million dollars in Glen Williams, Limehouse, and the rural market which is why we see zero sales almost every week. There just aren’t a ton of buyers looking over a million dollars right now and that’s basically all these markets have. Some Sellers are starting to get desperate though so if you have the slightest interest in buying, you should really start looking because there are great deals to be had, especially as we go into October. If our inventory continues to climb, which I think it will, prices will soften. I do think our numbers will be up from last year because we are already seeing more sales. 

This week’s update is pretty good in terms of silver linings like a regular number of sales and sellers coming off of the market. We really need new listings to slow completely down but that just isn’t happening right now. I’m hoping we will see our usual mass exodus in December and that we can start the new year in a better place. So, I’m going to continue to watch these trends. I think there will be at least one, if not two more interest rate reductions so this is a prime time to get a good deal on some of these properties. I think we will be looking back this time next year saying “wow I should have bought”. When interest rates go down, prices go up, so I think we will be in a different spot next year. So, I will be back next Tuesday, have a great Thanksgiving weekend!