Would you buy a house without going inside?

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You know real estate is booming, when people are willing to buy homes – without stepping inside. A home on Hamilton’s Bay St. North seems to be another sign of the scorching hot housing market. The area around Bayfront Park is one of the hottest in the city.

Not being able to see the inside of the rundown house on Bay St North didn’t stop it from being purchased for over asking – with no conditions. That would never happen in years past. Numerous waterfront parks and recreation centres, historic architecture and, of course the new GO train station have made the area highly coveted. According to the city, buyers are investing in their new homes at a record pace.

“We just, in 2014, had our fourth billion dollar year in the past five years. Where we hit $1-billion in building permit construction value, which puts us top of the class in the country” says Jason Thorne from Hamilton’s Planning department.

Everywhere you look, those building permits are being put to use.

The average price of a detached home in Toronto is around a million dollars, a quarter of that will get you a house here in Hamilton.

“Two years ago, there was nothing over 200, but now we’re floating into that 250 range” says Broker Louis Volk.

Kevin Makins and his wife took advantage of the lower prices and own a semi-detached home off of Bay Street . “We love the walkability of the neighborhood, the walkability of the house. We love the diversity of the neighborhood. These are people moving in, they’re committing their energy…starting businesses… renovating their homes and taking care of their neighborhood. At it’s best there’s a co-operative spirit in the neighborhood which is fantastic.”

Getting a renovated detatched home on Bay Street North will cost you less than 300 grand. That’s a great deal, but the problem is, it’s not a secret anymore – and that’s creating a bit of a problem for potential buyers.

At this point says Louis Volk “we’re just having more buyers than sellers.”