There were no bargains to be had in March as brisk Kitchener Waterloo residential MLS sales carried over to power of sale activity. There were 10 properties sold under power of sale in March. The average list price to sale price ratio was 99% and the average days on the market for these sales was just 27. The Royal Bank, Bank of Montreal and Firstline/CIBC ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on April 16, 2011
Buying your first home in Kitchener Waterloo can be confusing enough. Recently, the federal government made 3 changes to mortgage policy through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation(CMHC) that created further confusion. While I read a great deal about the changes, the analysis of the impact of the changes was sorely lacking. So if I'm a first time buyer in ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on January 22, 2011
The new year is always an exciting time in real estate and as I survey the year to come, 2011 will be no exception. First, let's look back and see how we did with last years forecast. My Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Sales Forecast 2010 called for a return to a more traditional market where 2/3 of the buying and selling was done between January and June. The ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on January 10, 2011
Residential real estate sales in Kitchener Waterloo remained robust in 2010 with 4794 MLS sales. This represented a slight decrease over 2009 sales of 4913. Sales activity was particularly strong in the early months of 2010. Buyers and sellers scrambled to beat the introduction of the Harmonized Sales Tax on July 1st. Spring market activity was further heightened by ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on January 5, 2011
The Kitchener Waterloo real estate market continued to moderate in August. Residential MLS sales for August 2010 totalled 371 versus 472 in August of 2009, a decline of 21%. One bright spot was the median price for August sales rose to $254,000 from $238,500 last August. You'll recall from previous posts that the Government of Canada through the Bank of Canada and the ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on September 4, 2010
In my daily travels, I'm often asked "How's the market?". I'm happy to report at the end of June 2010 that we have a "good" residential market in Kitchener and Waterloo. The first 4 weeks of June saw 442 MLS sales in K-W versus 525 in June 2009. Now those seeking sensational headlines might lead with "K-W home sales decline 16%" and they'd be right. However, a closer ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on June 30, 2010
The Olympic cauldron and our Canadian athletes weren't the only things on fire in February. Preliminary MLS data from the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board indicates a strong seller's market in K-W with 382 residential sales. Sellers received a sizzling 98.9 per cent of the asking price on average! Resale homes totalled 341 ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on March 2, 2010
Federal Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced the following changes to insured mortgages effective April 19, 2010:
1. Properties that are not owner-occupied now require a 20% downpayment.
2. Owners wanting to refinance their existing insured mortgage will be limited to 90% loan-to-value versus the current 95%.
3. Borrowers wanting a variable rate mortgage will now ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on February 16, 2010