Hope you enjoyed a wonderful long weekend and the beautiful summer weather we have been having.
It was another crazy month for home prices here in Waterloo Region. Competition stays very high for buyers looking to lock down a house in July. With the rules around covid relaxing and more people getting out with Phase 3 opening the demand for homes has increased for sure.
There were 734 residential homes sold in July, an increase of 25.7 per cent compared to the same month last year, and well above the previous ten-year average for July of 531.
Total residential sales in July included 464 detached homes (up 39.3 per cent from July 2019), and 65 condominium apartments (up 3.2 per cent). Sales also included 153 townhouses (up 4.8 per cent) and 52 semi-detached homes (up 23.8 per cent).
The average sale price of all residential properties sold in July increased 22.8 per cent to $639,814 compared to the same month last year, while detached homes sold for an average price of $745,149 an increase of 21.4 per cent. During this same period, the average sale price for an apartment-style condominium was $392,770 for an increase of 15.2 per cent. Townhomes and semis sold for an average of $465,756 (up 12.8 per cent) and $522,872 (up 20.4 per cent) respectively.
The median price of all residential properties sold in July increased 21.7 per cent to $595,000 and the median price of a detached home during the same period increased 17.4 per cent to $675,000.
With mortgage rates near all time lows homebuyers remain very confident about owning a home in Waterloo Region and I expect this to contunie going into the fall.
There were 888 new listings added, an increase of 4.3 per cent compared to July of last year, and 15.5 per cent more than the previous ten-year average for July.
The total number of homes available for sale in active status at the end of July was 592, a decrease of 32.6 per cent compared to July of last year.
The number of Months Supply (also known as absorption rate) continues to be very low at just 1.3 months for the month of July, 27.8 per cent below the same period last year. The previous ten-year average supply of homes for July was 3.1 months, and in the past 5 years, the average supply for July was 2.1 months.
The average days to sell in July was 17 days, compared to 22 days in July 2019.
Historical Sales By Property Type
Months Supply of Homes for Sale
Historical Median Sales Price – By Property Type
Historical Average Sales Price – By Property Type
Historical Sales – By Price Range
Average Days on Market
If you are thinking of buying or selling in the coming months or have any questions at all, give me a call, text at 519-497-4646 or shoot me an email to kevinbaker@kwhometeam.ca Stay healthy and stay safe!
Have a great weekend!
Kevin
August 6, 2020 | Categories: Buyers, Local Kitchener Waterloo, Random thoughts, Sellers, Uncategorized | Tags: 2019, activa, apple butter, appraisal, arrow, assessment, August, backyard, Bank of Canada, banking practices, basketball, bauer, bee's, beechwood, being social, bird droppings, board of education, breslau, brokerage, business online, cambridge, canadian, carbon monoxide, chicopee, cibc, city center, city centre, closing costs, closing paperwork, cmhc, colonial acres, commission, condo, condo buying, condo documents, condo for sale, condo market, condo prices, condo sales, condo values, condos, corona, crafts, district, down payment, downsizing, downtown, downtown kitchener, due diligence, eastbridge, elmira, energy audit, exclusive, facebook, fall, fall market, fear, february, festival, first time home buyer, for sale, forest heights, forest hill, free home evaluation, full time realtor, fun fact, fun stuff to do., garment, gas furnace, goal setting, government, green homes, guelph, harmonized sales tax, home buying, Home energy audit, home for sale, home inspection, home maintenance, home ownership, home price, home prices, home sales, home selling, home staging, home value, home values, homes, homes for sale, hornets, house, house for sale, house price, house prices, house sales, house value, houses for sale, housing update, hst, hydro, interest rate, investment, january, june, kaufman, kevin baker, kitchen cabinets, kitchener, Kitchener waterloo, kitchner, land transfer tax, landlord, laurelwood, laurentian, lawyer, lawyers, lexington, licensing, listing your home, loft, loft for sale, loft style, lofts, mansion, march, march update, market update, market value, marketing, may, midtown, midtown lofts, mls, mortage rates, mortgage, Mortgage News, Mortgage Rates, mortgage rules, mortgages, multiple listing service, multiple offer, networking, new construction, newspaper, november update, older homes, Olympic gold, online advertising, ontario, open house, open houses, opportunity, options for homes, painting, pioneer park, price, prices, pricing your home, Prime rate, private, privately, rates, rbc, real estate, real estate agent, real estate investing, real estate lawyer, real estate lawyers, real estate market, real estate team, real estate update, real estate values, realtor, realty, red, region, Remax, remax agent, rental, royal bank, sale, sale price, sales, sales agent, sales rep, sales representative, saving money, selling your home, september, single detached, special assessment, spring market, stanley park, stanleypark, summer, summer market, Survivor, tanglewood, tax credit, td canada trust, teamwork, tech savvy, to do list, toronto, townhome, townhouse, transit, twin city, twitter, union station, uptown waterloo, virus, waterloo, waterloo ontario, waterloo region, wellesley, westvale, winter market, winter sales | Leave a comment
Hope you have been staying safe during the past 2 months. It looks like things will start to open back up in stages and at some point things will be hopefully back to normal. Rest assured Yogi and I are here to help if you and your family need to make a move and we have the tools and systems in place for both buyers and sellers for proper marketing of our listings, getting buyers to view the properties, as well as ourselves to keep everyone safe.
I thought you would like an update on what is happening out there in the Waterloo Region Real Estate Market, so here are the stats for April.
There were 227 residential homes sold through the Multiple Listing System in April, a decrease of 63.6 per cent compared to the same month last year, and the lowest number of sales in a single month since December 2008.
I think it goes without saying the current pandemic has had a major impact on the number of sales we would normally see in April, with everyone doing their part to flatten the curve and doing their best to self-isolate, the buying and selling of homes have been greatly reduced.
Total residential sales in April included 145 detached homes (down 63.3 per cent), and 22 condominium apartments (down 71.1 per cent). Sales also included 44 townhouses (down 61.1 per cent) and 16 semi-detached homes (down 60 per cent).
The average sale price of all residential properties sold in April increased 7.3 per cent to $568,738 compared to the same month last year, while detached homes sold for an average price of $657,042 an increase of 7.3 per cent. During this same period, the average sale price for an apartment-style condominium was $367,230 for an increase of 8.1 per cent. Townhomes and semis sold for an average of $406,463 (up 0.4 per cent) and $491,816 (up 13.3 per cent) respectively.
The median price of all residential properties sold in April increased by 7.1 per cent to $525,000 and the median price of a detached home during the same period increased 6.3 per cent to $605,000.
There were 417 new listings added to the MLS® System in KW and area last month, a decrease of 54.8 per cent compared to April of 2019, far fewer than the previous 10-year average of 937 listings in April.
The total number of homes available for sale in active status at the end of April was 571, a decrease of 36.6 per cent compared to April of last year.
The number of Months Supply (also known as absorption rate) continues to be very low at just 1.2 months for the month of April, 36.8 per cent below the same period last year. The previous ten-year average supply of homes for April was 2.95 months, and in the past 5 years, the average supply for April was 2.12 months.
I am confident that despite the current pandemic, the slowdown in housing sales will be temporary. We are still in a strong sellers’ market and with buyers competing for a scare number of listings, now is still a great time to buy. Now for the first time in a long time, April saw some balance with a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 54 percent – well within the balanced threshold. I have talked to some buyers expecting homes to sell at greatly reduced amounts, and frankly, that’s simply not the case. Home values have remained stable which I expect will continue into 2020.
The average days to sell in April was 19 days, compared to 21 days in April 2019.
Historical Sales By Property Type
Months Supply of Homes for Sale
Historical Median Sales Price – By Property Type
Historical Average Sales Price – By Property Type
Historical Sales – By Price Range
Average Days on Market
If you have any questions or concerns at all, give me a call or text at 519-497-4646 or shoot me an email to kevinbaker@kwhometeam.ca . Stay healty and stay safe!
Have a great week!
Kevin
May 5, 2020 | Categories: Buyers, Local Kitchener Waterloo, Random thoughts, Sellers, Uncategorized | Tags: activa, advertising, appraisal, arrow, assessment, August, backyard, Bank of Canada, banking practices, basketball, bauer, bee's, beechwood, being social, bird droppings, blogging, board of education, brokerage, cambridge, canadian, carbon monoxide, chicopee, cibc, city center, city centre, closing costs, cmhc, commission, condo, condo buying, condo for sale, condo market, condo prices, condo sales, condo values, condos, corona, crafts, district, downsizing, downtown, due diligence, elmira, exclusive, facebook, fall, fall market, fear, february, festival, for sale, forest hill, free home evaluation, fun fact, fun stuff to do., garment, goal setting, government, green homes, guelph, home, home buying, home for sale, home inspection, home maintenance, home ownership, home price, home prices, home sales, home selling, home staging, home value, home values, homes, homes for sale, hornets, house, house for sale, house prices, house sales, house value, houses for sale, hst, hydro, interest rate, investment, january, june, kaufman, kevin baker, kitchen cabinets, kitchener, Kitchener waterloo, land transfer tax, landlord, laurelwood, laurentian, lawyer, lawyers, lexington, licensing, loft, lofts, mansion, march, market update, market value, marketing, may, mls, mortage rates, mortgage, Mortgage News, Mortgage Rates, mortgages, networking, new construction, newspaper, online advertising, ontario, open house, open houses, opportunity, options for homes, painting, pioneer park, price, prices, pricing your home, private, privately, rates, rbc, real estate, real estate agent, real estate investing, real estate lawyer, real estate market, real estate team, real estate update, real estate values, realtor, realty, red, region, Remax, rental, sale, sale price, sales, sales representative, saving money, selling your home, september, stanley park, summer, Survivor, tanglewood, tax credit, td canada trust, teamwork, tech savvy, to do list, toronto, townhome, townhouse, transit, union station, virus, waterloo, waterloo ontario, wellesley, winter market, winter sales | Leave a comment
Hope you have been staying safe during this unique time in all our lives. Rest assured Yogi and I are doing everthing we can to prevent the spread by staying home as much as posssible and limiting client interactions to phone calls, facetime, zoom meetings, etc. We are both here to help if you and your family need to make a move and we have the tools and systems in place for both buyers and sellers for proper marketing of our listings, getting buyers to view the properties, as well as ourselves to keep everyone safe.
I thought you would like an update on what is happening out there in the Waterloo Region Real Estate Market, so here are the stats for March.
There were 577 residential homes sold in March, an increase of 13.1 per cent compared to the same month last year, and 0.2 per cent below the previous 5-year average.
During the first quarter of 2020, there were 1,327 home sales, 14.6 per cent above last year’s result for the same period and 4 per cent above the previous 5-year average.
Total residential sales in March included 348 detached homes (up 7.1 per cent), and 68 condominium apartments (up 5.1 per cent). Sales also included 136 townhouses (up 17.2 per cent) and 25 semi-detached homes (up 4.2 per cent).
The average sale price of all residential properties sold in March increased 15.3 per cent to $583,752 compared to the same month last year, while detached homes sold for an average price of $679,728 an increase of 15.9 per cent. During this same period, the average sale price for an apartment-style condominium was $378,443 for an increase of 17.9 per cent. Townhomes and semis sold for an average of $457,547 (up 23 per cent) and $492,752 (up 17.4 per cent) respectively.
The median price of all residential properties sold in March increased 14.6 per cent to $544,500 and the median price of a detached home during the same period increased 16.2 per cent to $628,500.
Now of course is this not business as usual for us as Realtors or our clients. As people everywhere follow instructions to only leave their homes for essential reasons, this is impacting the number of showings, and how properties are shown.
There were a higher than average number of homes listed during the Month of March. There were 864 new listings added to the MLS® System in KW and area last month, an increase of 7.6 per cent compared to March of 2019, and the greatest number since 2015. The number of new residential listings was also 3.7 per cent higher than the previous ten-year average for March.
The total number of homes available for sale in active status at the end of March was 535, a decrease of 35.9 per cent compared to March of last year.
Despite the much-needed addition of new inventory coming to the market, the number of Months Supply (also known as absorption rate) continues to be very low at just 1.1 months for the month of March, 35.3 per cent below the same period last year. The previous ten-year average supply of homes for March was 2.73 months, and in the past 5 years, the average supply for March was 1.94 months.
There were also 51 listings last month that were suspended, which means the listing is temporarily “off-market,” and there can be no marketing, showings or offers during this period.
Trying to sell your home while in quarantine, self-isolating or worse yet, while someone in the house is sick, is not going to be in anyone’s best interest. We know many people are postponing their plans to list their home for the time being. As I mentioned earlier, if you find yourself in a situation where you need to buy or sell then rest assured Yogi and I are ready to help and have the tools in place to market, show and sell your home. The number of sales is keeping pace with the new listing inventory so there are still buyers out there looking to buy. We are doing everything we can to keep everyone safe during this time.
Historical Sales By Property Type
Months Supply of Homes for Sale
Historical Median Sales Price – By Property Type
Historical Average Sales Price – By Property Type
Historical Sales – By Price Range
Average Days on Market
If you have any questions or concerns at all, give me a call or text at 519-497-4646 or shoot me an email to kevinbaker@kwhometeam.ca . Stay healty and stay safe!
Have a great weekend
Kevin
April 4, 2020 | Categories: Buyers, Local Kitchener Waterloo, Random thoughts, Sellers, Uncategorized | Tags: 1 victoria, 144 park, 2019, activa, advertising, apple butter, appraisal, april update, arrow, arrow lofts, assessment, August, backyard, Bank of Canada, banking practices, basketball, bauer, bauer lofts, bee's, beechwood, being social, bird droppings, blogging, board of education, brokerage, business online, cambridge, canadian, canadian mortgage housing corporation, carbon monoxide, charlie west, chicopee, cibc, city center, city centre, closing costs, closing paperwork, cmhc, colonial acres, commission, condo, condo buying, condo documents, condo for sale, condo in kitchener, condo market, condo price, condo prices, condo sales, condo update, condo values, condos, condos in kitchener, corona, covid, covid-19, crafts, deck and pool, district, down payment, downsizing, downtown, downtown kitchener, due diligence, east ward, eastbridge, elmira, energy audit, energy rebate, exclusive, facebook, fall, fall market, fear, february, federal home buyer program, festival, first time home buyer, for sale, forest heights, forest hill, Frederick Art Walk, free home evaluation, full time realtor, fun fact, fun stuff to do., furnace efficiency, garment, gas furnace, goal setting, government, green homes, guelph, harmonized sales tax, HBTC, hoems for sale, home, home buying, Home energy audit, home for sale, home inspection, home maintenance, home ownership, home price, home prices, home sales, home selling, home staging, home upkeep, home value, home values, homes, homes for sale, hornets, house, house for sale, house price, house prices, house sales, house value, houses for sale, housing update, hst, hydro, interest rate, inventory levels, investment, january, june, june update, kaufman, kaufman lofts, kevin baker, kitchen cabinets, kitchener, Kitchener waterloo, kitchner, kwhometeam, kwrealestatelife, land transfer tax, landlord, landlord license bylaw, laurelwood, laurentian, lawyer, lawyer information, lawyers, lexington, Licensed lodging house, licensing, licensing bylaw, listing your home, loft, loft prices, loft style, lofts, lofts in kitchener, mansion, march, march update, market update, market value, marketing, may, mls, mortage brokers, mortage rates, mortgage, Mortgage News, Mortgage Rates, mortgages, multiple listing service, multiple offer, National Home Show, networking, new condo construction, new construction, newspaper, november update, older homes, Olympic gold, online advertising, ontario, open house, open houses, opportunity, options for homes, painting, pioneer park, price, prices, pricing your home, Prime rate, private, privately, rates, rbc, real estate, real estate agent, real estate investing, real estate lawyer, real estate lawyers, real estate market, real estate team, real estate update, real estate values, realtor, realty, red, red condos, region, Remax, remax agent, remax twin city, rental, royal bank, rrsp contribuitions, sale, sale price, sales, sales agent, sales rep, sales representative, saving money, seagrams, seagrams loft, seagrams lofts, selling home in winter, selling your home, september, september update, single detached, special assessment, spring market, stanley park, stanleypark, status certificate, summer, summer market, Survivor, tanglewood, tax credit, td canada trust, teamwork, tech savvy, to do list, toronto, townhome, townhouse, transit, twin city, Twin City Realty, twitter, union station, university downs, uptown waterloo, virus, waterloo, waterloo bylaw, waterloo district school board, waterloo ontario, waterloo region, waterloo region school board, wellesley, westvale, winter market, winter sales | Leave a comment
On October 17th, the federal government set up new guidelines for qualifying for a mortgage here in Canada. The federal government says it’s responding to concerns that sharp increases in housing prices in Toronto, Vancouver and elsewhere could increase defaults in the future, should historically low interest rates finally start to climb.
One of the key changes is that homeowners will be subject to a mortgage rate stress test beginning Oct. 17. It does not matter what size of down payment they have. Before now, those with less than a 20 per cent down payment were required to pass a stress test and have mortgage insurance backed by the federal government through the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation.
The test measures whether the buyer could still afford to make payments if mortgage rates rose to the Bank of Canada’s posted five-year fixed mortgage rate.
That rate is usually significantly higher than what a buyer can negotiate with banks or other lenders. For instance, TD has a five-year fixed rate mortgage at 2.59 per cent, while the Bank of Canada’s rate is 4.64 per cent.
The stress test also sets a ceiling of no more than 39 per cent of household income being necessary to cover home-carrying costs such as mortgage payments, heat and taxes.
It has been said that Regulators are under intense pressure to do something because home prices are climbing fast and may be over-valued in some markets. They want to avoid any kind of catastrophe on their watch..
So is this a good thing for Canadian housing? Many markets outside of the larger centers are also experiencing a sharp increase in house prices. Here in Kitchener Waterloo, the demand for medium priced homes is literally a bidding war with many homes selling for far more than i think they should be. That being said, prices are a reflection of supply and demand so that current pricing is a direct result of many more buyers than sellers.
The new rules also mean that, beginning this tax year, all home sales must be reported to the Canada Revenue Agency. The gains from sales of primary residences will remain tax-free, but the government is aiming to block foreign buyers from purchasing and flipping homes while falsely claiming the primary residence exemption from capital gains tax.
It remains to be seen whether these steps will tighten the current market, expand or collapse it. My only advice is that if you are thinking of selling your home this fall that you take advantage of the extremely low inventory levels that we have in Waterloo region.
Give me a call and we can grab a coffee and discuss the best solution for you and your family. You can reach me at 519-497-4646 or email to baker_kevin@rogers.com
Have a great day
Kevin
October 26, 2016 | Categories: Buyers, Local Kitchener Waterloo, Random thoughts, Sellers, Uncategorized | Tags: cambridge, canadian, cmhc, home buying, home prices, home selling, house prices, kitchener, mortgage, mortgage rules, Remax, twin city, waterloo, waterloo region | Leave a comment
Are you looking to get into the market? Are you a first time buyer with less than 10% down?
If so then you need to be aware of recent changes to the mortgage insurance premiums that are offered through CMHC (Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation)
It was announced a few days ago that Canada’s federal housing agency is raising mortgage insurance premiums as part of a plan to boost its capital reserves.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said it is raising premiums on the highest-risk mortgages – borrowers who have down payments of less than 10 per cent – by 15 per cent starting June 1.
What does this mean for buyers?
The increases only apply to new mortgages for borrowers with small down payments. Those who put down more than 10 per cent of the purchase price aren’t affected. Premiums will also remain unchanged on CMHC’s portfolio insurance, which lenders take out on bundles of uninsured mortgages so they can securitized them, as well as the agency’s insurance for apartment buildings.
The effects will be modest for affected borrowers. An average Canadian borrower who can afford to pay the only the minimum 5-per-cent down payment typically takes out a mortgage of $252,000, CMHC said. Premiums for those borrowers would rise $5 a month, or about $1,500 more over the course of a 25-year mortgage.
CMHC predicted the changes would “not have a material impact on housing markets,” suggesting the agency isn’t looking to cool the housing market. Senior vice-president Steven Mennill stressed in a call with reporters that the changes were a “business decision” related to higher capital requirements and “not in any way related to a change in policy or approach.”
One thing is clear: By limiting increases only to borrowers with less than 10-per-cent down payments, the federal corporation is concerned that it was underpricing the risk on the most indebted borrowers.
Mortgages with lower levels of equity are typically more vulnerable to a housing shock and require higher levels of capital reserves to account for potential losses, which means higher premiums for riskier borrowers.
My advice would be is if you are thinking of buying a home this spring and have less than a 10% down payment that you take advantage of the lower premiums offered before June 1st.
For more details or questions please email myself at kevinbaker@kwhometeam.ca or give us a call at 519-579-4110
Enjoy your week!
Kevin
April 8, 2015 | Categories: Buyers, Local Kitchener Waterloo, Uncategorized | Tags: Bank of Canada, canadian mortgage housing corporation, cmhc, condo, condo buying, first time home buyer, full time realtor, home buying, home value, kevin baker, Kitchener waterloo, lofts in kitchener, market update, Mortgage News, Mortgage Rates, real estate, real estate investing, Remax, sales rep, waterloo ontario | Leave a comment
CMHC (Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation) Announced that their Loan Insurance Program is going to be changing. What does that mean for Canadians purchasing properties with less than 35% down? Have a look at the chart below to see how the costs will be changing. If you have any questions or would like any advice please give us a call
March 3, 2014 | Categories: Buyers, Local Kitchener Waterloo, Sellers, Uncategorized | Tags: Bank of Canada, banking practices, cmhc, condo, first time home buyer, full time realtor, home buying, home value, inventory levels, Kitchener waterloo, lofts in kitchener, Mortgage News, Mortgage Rates, real estate investing, Remax, sales rep, waterloo ontario | Leave a comment
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