January 1, 2008 to March 31, 2008 Statistics

Burlington Sales: 719 units, at an average price of $348,015. Remaining on the market for an average of 45 days.

Hamilton Sales: 1,136 units, at an average price of $192,431. Remaining on the market for an average of 50 days.

Ancaster Sales: 111 units, at an average price of $352,752. Remaining on the market for an average of 55 days.

Waterdown Sales: 67 units, at an average price of $332,821. Remaining on the market for an average of 40 days.

Looking specifically at the Burlington area, the first quarter of 2007, 817 unit sales took place compared to 719 in Q1 of 2008, representing a drop of about 13.6%; at the same time in 2008 the average sale price increased from $334,385 in Q1 in 2007 to $348,015 which is slightly over 4%, Finally the number of listings active at the end of March/07 jumped from 640 listings to 732 in 2008, a 14.4% increase in the residential listing inventory.

These numbers indicate a clear defining difference in the "pace" of the real estate market this year compared to the same period a year ago, while it is still an active and healthy market, the "frenzy" of last year's "hot, hot, hot" may have cooled off a bit, then again considering the chill and the amount of snow that we were buried under until recently, April will be a definite gauge to tell us how we rank in contrast with our neighbours' woes south of 49th parallel.

Judging by the first half of this month, the real estate market locally is definitely alive and well, certainly the inventory is there for Buyers to pick and choose from.