House prices down in Burlington and Milton, but up in Oakville: Report

While houses are still expensive in the Halton Region overall, both sales and prices ticked down a bit month-over-month in Burlington and Milton. On the other hand, Oakville saw the average home price increase from August to September. 

According to the latest data from the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board (TRREB), the average house price in Halton (Oakville, Burlington, Milton and Halton Hills) hit $1,245,146 last month, up 1.2 per cent from $1,230,389 in August. 

That said, prices didn’t climb in every municipality.

Real estate website and brokerage Zoocasa points out that the average price in both Burlington and Milton declined, with the average price in Burlington hitting $1,049,362 (a decrease of 2.47 per cent month-over-month) and $1,053,783 in Milton (a decrease of 2.77 per cent). 

The average price also fell in Halton Hills from $1,250,700 in August to $1,083,709 in September. 

Sales are also down.

“Sales numbers declined or remained flat across all Halton Region cities in September, with the biggest hits in Burlington, down by 20 per cent to 148 units trading hands and in Milton, down by 28 per cent to just 100 sales,” Zoocasa says. 

Oakville did not experience the same price decreases. According to TRREB data, the average price in Oakville hit $1,551,189 in September, up from $1,492,687 in August. 

Sales were also flat, with 183 homes changing hands in Oakville in August and 182 homes selling in September. In Halton Hills, 47 homes were sold in both August and September. 

That said, Zoocasa says properties are still moving comparatively quickly in Halton. In Burlington, the months of inventory and average property days on the market remained unchanged at 1.9 months and 28 days. In Oakville, the months of inventory have increased by 4.35 per cdent to 2.4 months, while average days on the market decreased by three days to 29 days.

Zoocasa also says that while there isn’t much inventory in the region, prospective buyers got to peruse a few more listings last month. 

“Although the number of active listings remains low in the Halton Region, they improved by 26.47 per cent in September to 1,868 properties available for sale. New listings and active listings increased by a substantial 30.79 per cent and 26.47 per cent, respectively.” 

In a news release, TRREB said sales activity across the GTA was muted by a number of factors, including inflation, high borrowing costs, uncertainty surrounding potential future interest rate hikes and slower economic growth. 

That said, the increase in housing inventory hasn’t led to a drop in prices, with the average selling price climbing year-over-year. 

“The short and medium-term outlooks for the GTA housing market are very different. In the short term, the consensus view is that borrowing costs will remain elevated until mid-2024, after which they will start to trend lower,” said TRREB president Paul Baron in a release.

“This suggests that we should start to see a marked uptick in demand for ownership housing in the second half of next year, as lower rates and record population growth spur an increase in buyers.”

In terms of specific housing types, the average price of a detached house hit $1,346,007 in Burlington, $1,201,532 in Halton Hills, $1,284,663 in Milton and $1,284,663 $1,989,900 in Oakville. 

Semi-detached homes cost an average of $1,017,184 in Burlington, $816,000 in Halton Hills, $1,053,857 in Milton and $1,129,857 in Oakville. Townhouse prices hit an average of $1,054,982 in Burlington, $953,564 in Halton Hills, $922,100 in Milton and $1,203,563 in Oakville.

As far as condos go, the average price sat at $656,808 in Burlington, $625,000 in Halton Hills, $595,556 in Milton and $750,910 in Oakville. 

“GTA home selling prices remain above the trough experienced early in the first quarter of 2023,” said TRREB chief market analyst Jason Mercer in a release.

“However, we did experience more balanced market in the summer and early fall, with listings increasing noticeably relative to sales. This suggests that some buyers may benefit from more negotiating power, at least in the short term. This could help offset the impact of high borrowing costs.”