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
The Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives has just released a report titled 'Canada's Housing Bubble: An Accident Waiting to Happen'. The author is David MacDonald and he studied housing trends in the country's 6 biggest markets: Vancouver, Edmonton, Calgary, Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal. Among other data, he compares provincial median household income and ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on August 31, 2010
Million dollar residential sales have set a record in Kitchener Waterloo in 2010. Luxury home sales over $1 million dollars on the Kitchener-Waterloo Multiple Listing Service have surged to 9 year-to-date. The average price of these sales is $1,481,444 and the average days on market is 100 days versus a brisk 37 days for the broader market. Sellers of these ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on August 27, 2010
The surge in power of sale activity witnessed in Kitchener Waterloo in June carried over to July. The Kitchener-Waterloo MLS reported 13 residential sales in July matching the 13 recorded in June. The sales totals for these months represents the highest number of power of sales for any month in 2010. Totals for January to May ranged from 8-12 so perhaps ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on August 21, 2010
There are days in real estate and in life where you come across things that just don't sit well. I usually try and think things through but sometimes I still end up like the photo above...puzzled. I found this gem while searching MLS for suitable properties for a buyer client.
I was equally puzzled by an article in today's National Post entitled "Variable ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on July 28, 2010
This marks the first in a series of posts I'll be doing geared to the Baby Boomers(people born between 1946 and 1964) as they prepare for life after work. Specifically, if you decide a move is in order, what are your housing choices or options in Kitchener Waterloo and area? I'll highlight a different location in each post and discuss the pros and cons of ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on July 21, 2010
The home pictured above is currently for sale in the wonderful Westvale neighbourhood of Waterloo(note I'm biased as I live there). While attending an open house, I spoke with the listing agent who related a curious story to me.
It seems in an effort to save commission, the seller initially chose a discount real estate brokerage to market the home. During one of the ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on July 13, 2010
This is a popular question from my first-time buyers. So what is title insurance? It's an insurance policy that protects residential property owners and their lender against losses related to the property's title or ownership. Likely the biggest reason to get title insurance is protection against title fraud. For a complete primer on title insurance in Ontario, visit ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on July 12, 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
As noted previously, houses that sell for a million dollars are rare in Kitchener and Waterloo. In fact, the MLS database for the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board goes back to 1988 and only 34 such sales are on record. It may then surprise you to learn that 7 million dollar homes have sold through MLS already this year versus 4 in all of 2009. This is certainly encouraging ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on June 4, 2010