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2015 a record year in Hamilton house prices

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If you’re looking to sell your house in Hamilton and get big dollars for it, the time to sell is now. But if you’re hoping to get the best deal possible in town, keep looking.

2015 is a record year for Hamilton house prices, and for the number of homes sold.

“Expect a bidding war. There are a lot of houses in our area that are in worse shape than ours that were going for a lot more than ours. We were anticipating a bidding war definitely.”

And Shane Bond got exactly that, when he and his wife sold their Hamilton mountain home for more than their asking price. “Yes, we put it up for approximately market value, and we ended up getting $12,500 more than asking.”

You don’t have to look hard to find a sold sign outside a house in Hamilton.

The final home sale numbers in the city this year are forecasted to be around 15,000 homes sold. And the prices of homes in Hamilton recorded the largest increase in the country with prices up 3.7% over last year.

“Central Hamilton, the core downtown, prices seem to be going up the most and that’s a function of easy commute into Toronto or points in between.” said George O’Neill from Realtors Association.

Analysts from the Canadian mortgage and housing corporation expect sales totals to shrink to 14,000 homes next year, and keep going down to 13,600 in 2017.

But the prices of houses will keep going up and the city’s strong job market is one of the reasons.

“Overall though, we’ve regained in Hamilton all the jobs that were lost during the recession. Hamilton now is in an expansionary phase.” said C.M.H.C Market Analyst Abdul Kargbo.

Analysts predict that central Hamilton will continue to be an attractive area for outside buyers, especially anything within walking distance of the GO station, but it’s those outside buyers who continue to drive the price of Hamilton homes up.

“The average home is $233,000, and then you look at Toronto the average is $620,000.” said Kargbo.

The average mortgage payment in central Hamilton is about $1200 a month compared to the average Toronto mortgage payment of over $3000.

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