April 2010 didn't bring the rain we typically associate with the month nor did it bring a shower of power of sale listings. Active residential MLS listings under power of sale in mid-May totalled 10 which is the lowest total seen this year. Rising house prices, an improving local economy and continuing low interest rates have all contributed to this "good news" story. ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on May 22, 2010
Real estate sales in Kitchener-Waterloo continued a strong surge as April's 539 residential MLS sales represented an 11%increase over the 487 sales in April 2009. The average sale price of $285,643 spiked nearly 10% over last April's average of $259,802. The market still favours sellers as they received, on average, 98.7% of their asking price. The average days on market was ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on May 14, 2010
Power of sale activity continued to trend upward on the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board in March with 12 sales versus 11 last month. Of note, 10 were in Kitchener and 2 in Waterloo. The scarcity of properties for sale resulted in a brisk 24 days on the market for these sales and a list price to sale price of 98% on average. The lenders at CIBC and TD are ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on April 18, 2010
To me, urgency is part of the the appeal of the NCAA basketball tournament known as March Madness. It's win or go home. It appears buyers adopted this attitude in March as MLS sales activity in Kitchener-Waterloo saw year-over-year increases of 9% in average price and 38% in unit sales. March unit sales in K-W totalled 546 besting the 507 sales in March ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on April 6, 2010
Power of sale activity in Kitchener-Waterloo continued an upward trend. In February, there were 11 residential properties sold under power of sale through the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board. Interestingly, all were in Kitchener. The continued strength of the residential resale market meant there were no bargains to be had as lenders received, on average, ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on March 16, 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
While Florida saw snow in January, Kitchener-Waterloo received much less than normal. This relatively mild weather and continuing low interest rates led to an active residential real estate market in K-W in January. Preliminary sales through the K-W Real Estate Board indicate 290 residential sales. This represents a 34% increase over the 217 sales of January ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on February 3, 2010
The headlines are hard to avoid these days as the mainstream media rush to report December real estate sales in Canada at an all-time high. The Canadian Real Estate Association reports that the number of sales nationwide was up 7.7% in 2009 over 2008 and prices were up 5%, on average, versus a drop of 1% in 2008. As I've stressed before, markets are local and ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on January 18, 2010
Kitchener-Waterloo residential real estate continued to post solid gains year-over-year in December. A total of 242 properties sold through the Kitchener-Waterloo MLS in December, 2009 versus 172 in 2008 for an increase of 41%. Interestingly, the median sale price declined slightly to $264 848 compared to $265 858 in '08. The average days on the market for December was a healthy ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on January 4, 2010
There has been a great deal of talk in the mainstream media recently surrounding the possibility that Canada is in a housing bubble. First, what is a housing bubble? According to Answers.com, a housing bubble is "a run-up in prices fuelled by demand, speculation, and a belief that recent history is an infallible forecast of the future." It begins with an increase in demand ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on January 2, 2010