Hamilton Buyers Are Bidding More Aggressively on Homes

While most Hamilton neighbourhoods were stuck in underbidding territory in the second quarter, a growing number saw homes selling over-asking.

By Josh Sherman | 2 minute read

Home prices were getting bid up in more Hamilton neighbourhoods in the second quarter of the year. 

Hamilton’s housing market saw stronger competition emerge among homebuyers during the second quarter, new analysis from digital real estate platform Wahi suggests.

Overall, 18% of neighbourhoods (23) in Hamilton were in overbidding territory in the second quarter, up from just 7% (eight) in Q1, according to Wahi’s Q2 2024 Hamilton Market Pulse Report.

An additional 6% (seven) were selling at-asking, compared to 4% (five) in the previous quarter. The overwhelming majority of 76% remained in underbidding territory.

However, the share of these below-asking neighbourhoods (96) was significantly lower than what was observed in the first three months of the year, when 89% (105) were underbid. (Percentages may not equal 100 due to rounding.)

“Hamilton is showing more signs of life than some Ontario cities,” notes Wahi CEO Benjy Katchen. “It will be interesting to see whether the Bank of Canada’s July rate cut encourages more bidding competition in the third quarter,” he adds.

Katchen points to Wahi’s Market Pulse data for Ottawa, for example, where just one neighbourhood was in overbidding territory in Q2, and Niagara, where every neighbourhood was underbid. 

Central Hamilton Neighbourhoods See Strongest Bidding Activity

In the second quarter, the vast majority of overbidding neighbourhoods were located within Hamilton’s pre-amalgamation borders. This geographic trend was also reflected in the top five overbidding neighbourhoods, which are ranked by the median overbid amount.

Four out of the top five overbidding neighbourhoods were found within the old city. Pleasant Valley West, in Dundas, was the outlier. In Q1, three of the overbidding leaders were based in the old city. 

Note that when a neighbourhood is in overbidding territory, it doesn’t necessarily mean that every home is selling above-asking. Instead, it’s a general reflection of overall market behaviour, which can be influenced by seasonal factors, for example, or decisions by sellers, such as to list homes below market value to try and attract more bids.

Meanwhile, Ancaster swapped spots with Stoney Creek as an underbidding hotspot between the first and second quarters. In Q1, three of the top five underbidding neighbourhoods were located in Stoney Creek, while Ancaster only claimed one spot. In Q2, however, a trio of Ancaster neighbourhoods cracked the top five, with Stoney Creek representing a lone spot.

While Hamilton saw the share of overbidding neighbourhoods increase by more than 10 percentage points from Q1 to Q2, homebuying competition was still softer than what has been observed in its big neighbour to the east, Toronto. At the end of June, 27% of Greater Toronto Area neighbourhoods were in overbidding territory, though underbidding has been tracking higher in recent months. Some 2,221 homes changed hands across Hamilton in the second quarter, with the city achieving a median price of $780,000.

How Wahi Ranks Hamilton’s Overbidding and Underbidding Neighbourhoods

Each quarter, Wahi compares the differences between median list and sold prices to determine whether Hamilton neighbourhoods are in overbidding or underbidding territory. Hamilton sales data is sourced from Information Technology Systems Ontario, the REALTORS® Association of Hamilton-Burlington, and the Toronto Regional Real Estate Board.

The top overbidding and underbidding neighbourhoods are ranked by the median overbid or underbid amount. The median overbid and underbid amounts are calculated by subtracting the list price from the sold price of each individual listing in a given neighbourhood. These are then ranked by the median of all subtractions and presented as the median overbid or underbid amount.

Wahi analyzed 210 neighbourhoods, excluding 84 with fewer than five sales over the study period.