Real estate is a serious business and part of our job for our clients is to alleviate stress. One way to accomplish this is through laughter. While listening and laughing to Century 21 Colonial's Kelly Lantz get "punked" by a local radio station, I was reminded of my own moment of real estate apprehension. It was a cold January day in 1996. I was the "duty" agent ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on September 11, 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
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
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
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
I had the good fortune to visit Vancouver for the Century 21 Canada Conference this fall. It certainly is a beautiful city and I can definitely see the appeal of living there. However, I struggle with the cost of housing. Here is a current example. The home above is listed for sale at $795,000. It's described as "that perfect fixer upper in an amazing ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on December 8, 2009
November unit sales in Kitchener-Waterloo were up a sizzling 76% over November, 2008 according to figures released by the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board. A November record 422 properties changed hands versus 240 in November, 2008. Another November record was set as the median sale price in K-W hit $248,750 versus $234,500 in 2008, an increase of 6%. The return of consumer ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on December 7, 2009