Market Snapshot: March 18-24, 2018

Local MLS® Sales Data
All Hamilton Real Estate Districts Combined*    
  Total Sales: 156
Average Price: $491,265 Median Price: $470,950 Avg Days On Market: 31
    Sales volume experienced a small uptick this week, as did sale prices.  Although prices seem to be relatively stable, the market continues to look soft.  Even with the small increase in sales this week, the month is likely to finish with a significant drop over the same month last year.
  Time on market continues typical weekly fluctuations. This week's sales saw a shorter-than-usual time on market.
 
Average price varies by district. Call to discuss sales data for your specific area, or for a sale price estimate specific to your property. **
 
*Ancaster, Dundas, Glanbrook, Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Waterdown 
 
** Not intended to solicit clients currently under contract.

Best renovations for ROI on selling your house

If you're going to be staying in your home for a while, then you can feel free to do whatever you want to make it more appealing and comfortable to you.

But if you've had any thoughts of selling in the next few years, you might want to think about which renovations will most increase the value of your property when it comes time to put it on the real estate market.

Here are the some of the top renovations for return-on-investment when selling the property, according to the [Appraisal Institute of Canada]:

Painting

Painting is a great ROI because it's a relatively low-cost item, but makes the property looks much better. I've been involved with painting in both do-it-yourself (DIY) situations and by hiring a professional painting company.

While painting is "simple", it's not necessarily "easy". On the contrary, it can be a lot of hard work to do it right. DIYcan save you a lot of money, because a significant portion of the cost of professional painting is labour (as with anything). But you better be ready to pay in cost of time and hard work.

If you don't have the time, energy, or know-how to do it yourself, consider hiring a professional painting firm.  Get quotes from at least a couple for comparison, and try to get a referral from someone you trust.

Kitchen

Kitchens are always a winner for ROI on a renovation - but of course, only when done correctly. Again, DIY can save you money, but you should make sure that you have the required skills. Consulting a professional design company really can provide superior results, because they know all the materials and options available. A good designer also has experience laying out a kitchen in an appealing manner that will also be practical. Finally, the kitchen is one of the places where you may want to try to select the best materials you can afford, rather than going for the cheapest options.

Bathroom

Bathrooms are the other big winner when it comes to specific rooms to renovate. An ugly or badly out-of-date bathroom can be an immediate turn-off for buyers. Priority should be given to the main bathroom and the master bath - it always strikes me as odd when the best bathroom in the house is in the basement. And as with the kitchen, you should be aiming for the best design and materials.

Market Snapshot: March 4-10, 2018

Local MLS® Sales Data
All Hamilton Real Estate Districts Combined*    
 
Total Sales: 123
Average Price: $480,232  
Median Price: $447,000  
Avg Days On Market: 22
   
Sales volume receded slightly this week, and seems below normal for this time of year.  Sales for the first ten days of March 2018 are about half what they were last year.  Even with this month last year being exceptionally heated, that still shows a significant decrease in activity.
 
Average sale price softened a bit this week, but not outside of usual weekly fluctuations.
 
Time on market for properties sold this week was quite a bit shorter than normal.  This is a possible indicator of the spring market starting, but it's hard to say with sales remaining soft.
 
Average price varies by district. Call to discuss sales data for your specific area, or for a sale price estimate specific to your property. **
 
*Ancaster, Dundas, Glanbrook, Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Waterdown 
 
** Not intended to solicit clients currently under contract.

Market Snapshot: February 25-March 3, 2018

Local MLS® Sales Data
All Hamilton Real Estate Districts Combined*   

Total Sales: 136
Average Price: $485,792
Median Price: $462,250
Avg Days On Market: 31
  
Sales volume picked up a bit again, but nothing to get excited about yet.
 
Average sale price continues to bounce up and down around the $500k point.
  Time on market for properties sold this week was a little lower than average.
 
Average price varies by district. Call to discuss sales data for your specific area, or for a sale price estimate specific to your property. **

*Ancaster, Dundas, Glanbrook, Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Waterdown 

** Not intended to solicit clients currently under contract.

Change your time, change your batteries.. and more?

Daylight Savings Time begins in just a couple days, with clocks moving ahead one hour at 3:00am on Sunday, March 11, 2018. 

Is it just me, or does this feel like it's coming faster every year?

And while we're changing the time on all the clocks, it might be a good idea to change the batteries in your smoke and carbon monoxide (CO) detectors.  The DST changes are common times to do this, just so that it's a regular thing.  You should change them at least once per year, whether you do it with the spring time change or in the fall (or at new years, or whatever works for you).

But, besides the batteries, you should consider whether your smoke and CO detectors themselves should be changed.  The Government of Canada's [web page on fire safety] suggests sticking to the industry-recommended 10 year lifetime for detectors.  So if any of your smoke or carbon monoxide detectors are over 10 years, you should consider replacing the whole unit rather than just the batteries.

And on the topic of detectors, remember that it is the law that every house have a working smoke detector on every level and (if there are any gas-burning appliances in the house such as stove, furnace or water heater) a CO detector by any sleeping areas.

If in doubt, as the old saying goes: it's better safe than sorry.

For more information on smoke and carbon monoxide detectors from the Ontario Association of Fire Chiefs:

Smoke detectors: http://www.oafc.on.ca/smoke-alarms

CO detectors: http://www.oafc.on.ca/carbon-monoxide

Coyotes on Hamilton's West Mountain?

Recently, I started seeing people reporting sightings of coyotes on social media.  We all know they are around in different parts of Hamilton, but I was surprised to see them reported on the West Mountain. 

Any doubts are erased by a recent post by [Westview Elementary School], located right in the middle of the West Mountain area, titled ["Living with Coyotes"]. In this post, the school board confirms that coyotes are in the area, Hamilton Animal Control is aware of their presence, and linking to [a pamphlet on coyotes].

If you live in the area, it would be a good idea to read the pamphlet and keep some of this information in mind for your safety, and for your children and pets.

Market Snapshot: February 18-24, 2018

Local MLS® Sales Data
All Hamilton Real Estate Districts Combined*   

Total Sales: 97
Average Price: $506,370  
Median Price: $467,000  
Avg Days On Market: 41
  
Sales volume seems particularly slow this week, but that may have been influenced by the presence of the Family Day weekend.
 
Average and median sale prices continue to hover in the same area, with average floating around the $500k point.  The question is whether the spring market will bring greater price surges.
  Time on market bumped back up to a more normal figure for this week.
 
Average price varies by district. Call to discuss sales data for your specific area, or for a sale price estimate specific to your property. **

*Ancaster, Dundas, Glanbrook, Hamilton, Stoney Creek, Waterdown 

** Not intended to solicit clients currently under contract.