Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Milestones Acheived
Recently the Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate Board recognized their long standing members and three of our agents were recognized. Congratulations to Adrian Bodea (25 years of service), Jade Ho for 20 years of service, and Nelly Kilianski for 20 years of service (I know, I know, you started when you were 16!)
Congratulations to all three of you. Some days it seems like a few weeks, and other times, it feels like forever!
Wednesday, January 16, 2008
Dates Set for Leader's Edge Training
We have confirmed the dates for this year's Chris Leader training.
The "Bridge to Success" event will be held on Monday February 11,2008 from 10 AM to 1PM (Coffee at 9:30) at the Mississauga Convention Centre, which is on Hwy 10, about 5 minutes north of the 401. This is the free introductory event.
The nine week program starts on Tuesday, March 4th.
You can learn more about the program, and check out pictures of last year's group on Chris' website at Leaders Edge Training.
There is a sign up sheet at the office for the February 11th event.
Welcome Grace Szymanska
Grace has been in the business for 3 years, with previous experience at Royal Lepage Wolle Realty. Grace is married and has 2 children. She grew up in Warsaw, Poland and moved to Canada in 1990.
Grace has worked at a legal office in Poland and has also worked at Clarica Insurance.
When Grace isn’t working she enjoys walking, biking and cross-country skiing.
Thursday, January 10, 2008
2007 In Review
I am pleased to say that once again, real estate sales were good to us in 2007. As I look back on the 2007 MLS statistics, 2007 was the best year on record for the K-W Board and the second best year on record for the Cambridge Board. I guess it can’t get much better than that. The strange thing is that, it came in like a lion, and out like a lamb. There were great numbers at the beginning of the year, but November and December were very slow. But, overall, we must be very happy.
Here are couple personal observations. In December, the average sale price in Toronto went over $400,000 for the first time. Our average sale price is still under $ 250,000. For the past 15 to 25 years the market has maintained a gap of about $ 100,000 in these average sale price numbers. Now, that number has spread to $ 150,000. My first thought is that our prices are a little undervalued. Average sale prices in Saskatchewan are now higher than ours. The average sale price in North Vancouver and West Vancouver is over a million dollars. Does that make sense? You be the judge. We are continually rated as one of the top five places to live in Canada in all categories, but our real estate prices move upward at a slow, controlled pace.
When talking real estate, the favourite topic is the U.S sub-prime dilemma. In some major American markets, there are horrific stories about foreclosures and price declines. Someone told me recently, that with price declines and the US dollar, you can now buy a condo in Florida for less than half the price you could five years ago. In some areas, like Florida, it is definitely not a fun time to be in our business. As Canadians, we “think” that we always follow the American lead. But, given the background, I would suggest that we are about to turn the corner and be able to say that we dodged the bullet. Political differences, our mortgage rules, our economy, and, let’s face it... a bit of luck, have left us in a great situation.
Regarding our local market, it is interesting to note the issue of new home sales. CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing) numbers show single family housing starts as marginally lower this year than 2006. But, when you analyze those numbers, it becomes interesting. In Cambridge, there were less than 60 new homes built in 2007. Development restrictions, and government delays, caused a city of 120,000 people to build almost no houses. How this affects the market in 2008, is anybody’s guess. Kitchener-Waterloo numbers were slightly lower than normal but not as remarkable. The other issue is, that lots have become so expensive for builders that it has become very difficult for builders to compete price-wise with re-sale homes. The gap is definitely wider than normal. This should prove to be an interesting observation in 2008. We already know that there will be many more lots available and new homes built. Will the pricing affect the resale market? We’ll find out.
What does 2008 hold in store? Nobody knows for sure, but all indications are for another good year. Unemployment rates are good, and, the economy is good. The increase in the Canadian dollar does not appear to have hugely affected the Canadian economy as feared. It looks like we will have another good year in real estate in Waterloo Region.
Please find below some of the barometer statistics from our two real estate boards. The key numbers are: an average sale price around $245,000 after a 5.5 % increase from 2006.
Let’s hope we can report similar numbers a year from now. Best wishes for a great 2008.
Here are couple personal observations. In December, the average sale price in Toronto went over $400,000 for the first time. Our average sale price is still under $ 250,000. For the past 15 to 25 years the market has maintained a gap of about $ 100,000 in these average sale price numbers. Now, that number has spread to $ 150,000. My first thought is that our prices are a little undervalued. Average sale prices in Saskatchewan are now higher than ours. The average sale price in North Vancouver and West Vancouver is over a million dollars. Does that make sense? You be the judge. We are continually rated as one of the top five places to live in Canada in all categories, but our real estate prices move upward at a slow, controlled pace.
When talking real estate, the favourite topic is the U.S sub-prime dilemma. In some major American markets, there are horrific stories about foreclosures and price declines. Someone told me recently, that with price declines and the US dollar, you can now buy a condo in Florida for less than half the price you could five years ago. In some areas, like Florida, it is definitely not a fun time to be in our business. As Canadians, we “think” that we always follow the American lead. But, given the background, I would suggest that we are about to turn the corner and be able to say that we dodged the bullet. Political differences, our mortgage rules, our economy, and, let’s face it... a bit of luck, have left us in a great situation.
Regarding our local market, it is interesting to note the issue of new home sales. CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing) numbers show single family housing starts as marginally lower this year than 2006. But, when you analyze those numbers, it becomes interesting. In Cambridge, there were less than 60 new homes built in 2007. Development restrictions, and government delays, caused a city of 120,000 people to build almost no houses. How this affects the market in 2008, is anybody’s guess. Kitchener-Waterloo numbers were slightly lower than normal but not as remarkable. The other issue is, that lots have become so expensive for builders that it has become very difficult for builders to compete price-wise with re-sale homes. The gap is definitely wider than normal. This should prove to be an interesting observation in 2008. We already know that there will be many more lots available and new homes built. Will the pricing affect the resale market? We’ll find out.
What does 2008 hold in store? Nobody knows for sure, but all indications are for another good year. Unemployment rates are good, and, the economy is good. The increase in the Canadian dollar does not appear to have hugely affected the Canadian economy as feared. It looks like we will have another good year in real estate in Waterloo Region.
Please find below some of the barometer statistics from our two real estate boards. The key numbers are: an average sale price around $245,000 after a 5.5 % increase from 2006.
Let’s hope we can report similar numbers a year from now. Best wishes for a great 2008.
K-W 2007 | K-W 2006 | Cambridge 2007 | Cambridge 2006 | |
Avg. Sale Price | $ 248,879 | $235,629 | $242,753 | $230,371 |
Percentage Change | +5.6% | +5.4% | ||
Properties Sold | 6808 | 6014 | 2991 | 2813 |
New Listings/Sales Ratio | 70.6% | 62.4% | 67.5% | 58.6% |
Wednesday, January 09, 2008
December Monthly MLS Statistics
Here are the December 2007 MLS monthly statistics from our two real estate boards:
K-W This Month | K-W Last Year | Cambridge This Month | Cambridge Last Year | |
Avg. Sale Price | $ 246,613 | $235,791 | $245,954 | $210,829 |
Percentage Change | +6.7% | +16.7% | ||
Properties Sold | 301 | 309 | 124 | 151 |
New Listings/Sales Ratio | 90.4% | 86.3% | 91.8% | 89.3% |
Properties For Sale Now | 1151 | 1624 | 552 | 736 |
Tuesday, January 08, 2008
Welcome Keith Marshall to our Kitchener Office
Keith was born in Kitimat, BC and grew up in Victoria, BC, St Lawrence, NF, Thamesford, Kingston and Ottawa. He lived in Taiwan for ten years, where he was first a student, then a teacher, an immigration consultant, and finally an account executive with a large advertising firm.
He returned to Canada in 2000 and settled in Waterloo.
Keith has been married to Wenling for 16 years. They met in university, they have two beautiful and active teenage daughters Abby (13) and Sally (11). Abby is a musician, she plays piano and cello. This year she is playing in the KW Youth Orchestra. Sally is the soccer star, she plays on Waterloo’s rep team.
Since returning to Canada, Keith has been working in (print advertising) sales. He became licensed in September and is looking forward to the challenges of a real estate career.
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Welcome to Dee Lenjo - Cambridge office
Dee and her husband Stan moved to Canada in 1994 from Novi Sad, Europe. They have to sons, Michael (8) and Thomas (5 ½). Dee has lived in the Cambridge area for 4 years.
Dee worked at a weather station in Europe and has also worked at a bank as a teller.
Dee speaks a number of languages including Slovak, Croatian and Serbian.
Dee is very proud of her to boys and is also very proud to have completed her courses at the Real Estate College.
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