Housing markets in Milton, Burlington, Oakville among top performers in Canada

The housing market in Burlington, Oakville, Milton and Halton Hills continues to be among the top performers in both the GTA, and Canada-wide.

With first-time buyers locked out of the country’s most expensive housing markets, the move-up/down segments, as well as investors, have been fuelling detached homebuying activity in the first six months of 2024 in the Greater Toronto Area according to the RE/MAX Hot Pocket Communities Report.

Released today, the report surveyed 83 markets across the country, including Halton, and found that close to 40 per cent of markets (33/83) reported an increase in detached housing values in the first half of the year, while 30 per cent reported an upswing in the number of sales (25/83).

Halton Region was one of the top-performing regions in the GTA in the first six months of this year, with overall average price for detached housing up just over one per cent, to $1,627,858, and sales falling just short of 2023 levels for the same period, according to Conrad Zurini, owner of RE/MAX Escarpment Realty.

Milton was the sole market to experience an uptick in detached sales this year, rising two per cent to 395 units. Lower housing values combined with a good selection of properties listed for sale have attracted a fair number of buyers to the area.

Average price climbed nominally in Burlington, Halton Hills, and Oakville, with increases of 2.2 per cent, 1.7 per cent, and just under one per cent, respectively.

Demand for detached housing was most evident on the peripheral areas bordering Oakville, including Burlington’s east end and Peel Region’s west end.

“While affordability remains the top obstacle for first-time homebuyers, more experienced buyers and investors are taking advantage of softer housing values, making their moves ahead of the Bank of Canada’s end to quantitative tightening,” said RE/MAX president Christopher Alexander.

“Pent-up demand continues to build, with an estimated 20,000 to 25,000 buyers currently lying in wait in the GTA. The first interest rate cut in June did little to incentivize buyers, but early indications show the second may have struck a nerve.”

Empty nesters and retirees in Halton Region are buying up bungalows—many with attached two-car garages on good sized lots—for future use and renting them out in the interim.

“Many purchasers in today’s market are first-time trade-up buyers, moving from semi-detached homes, townhomes, or link dwellings to detached housing,” said Alexander.

“This cohort has been fortunate in the sense that the entry-level price range has been relatively sheltered from downward pressure and has made the step up to a single-detached ownership less onerous than in past years. While affordability remains top of mind, first-time trade-up buyers were active in various pockets and price points.”