Forecasting the weather or anything else is always tricky and residential real estate sales in Kitchener-Waterloo are no exception. My predictions for 2009 were for a buyer's market by spring, MLS sales of 3725 properties and declining prices of 10-15%. As detailed in my previous post, thankfully none of this came to pass due to government stimulus and low interest rates. An ...
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
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
Today's post deals with the challenges of buying a home in a seller's market. First, let's look at a bit of recent history. In November of 2008, fear and uncertainty were in the air. Overextended sellers were anxious to unload their properties at a discount. Buyers, following years of a seller's market, were finally in control. Unfortunately for buyers, ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on November 28, 2009
The local improvement in economic conditions appears to have led to fewer Power of Sale properties in October. Active listings under Power of Sale as of November 15th totalled 11 versus 12 in mid-October. Of these, 10 are in Kitchener and 1 in Waterloo.
Properties bought under Power of Sale in October declined to 10 versus 17 in September. Of note, there ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on November 17, 2009
As of October 15th, there were 12 active residential MLS listings under Power of Sale in Kitchener-Waterloo. This marks a slight increase over the 11 in September. Of note, 2 were in Waterloo and the remaining 10 in Kitchener.
As for sales, September saw 17 residential properties sold under Power of Sale in K-W through the Multiple Listing Service. ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on October 21, 2009
The Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board reports 375 sales in K-W for September 2009 which represents a 15% decline over the 441 sales reported in September 2008. Of note, the end of $0 down and 40 year amortization program was rapidly approaching in September 2008 and sales were artificially high as a result. The median price for September 2009 sales in K-W was a September record ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on October 4, 2009
As of September 15, 2009 there were 11 active listings under Power of Sale in K-W. This represents a significant decline over the 19 in mid-August. Of note, all 11 were in Kitchener. As expected, the active market resulted in the sale of 16 Power of Sale properties in August versus 9 in July. The low level of homes for sale will continue to mean Power ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on September 18, 2009
Real estate sales have defied expert predictions as evidenced by Vancouver sales rocketing ahead 117% year-over-year http://tinyurl.com/lmpz9g However, markets are local in nature so let's look at the Kitchener-Waterloo market year-to-date and where the market is heading in the months to come.
Year-to-date MLS sales to the end of August '09 totalled 3422 versus ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on September 16, 2009
The Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board has released August 2009 sales data. In K-W, there were 482 sales matching a record set in 2007. The average price declined from August 2008 by slightly more than $10 000 and the median price dipped to $237,200 versus $242,000 in August 2008. Condominium sales were up 67% over August 2008 as record interest rates improved affordability. ...
Posted by Jeff Gingerich
on September 3, 2009