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.
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!
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.
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!
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.
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!
Big news on the wire for Canadians today. If your looking to get a mortgage or refinance your home this is a must read.
As always if you have any questions please feel free to give me a call at 519-579-4110 or email kevinbaker@kwhometeam.ca
CTV News Staff:
Finance Minister Jim Flaherty announced new rules for Canadian mortgages on Monday that he said will “protect the stability of the economy.”
Flaherty’s announcement comes on the heels of a recent warning from the Bank of Canada that Canadians’ domestic debt burden is the highest on record.
The Monday announcement included three new rules for the mortgage industry that will come into effect March 18:
Mortgage amortization periods will be reduced from 35 years to 30 years.
The maximum amount Canadians can borrow to refinance their mortgages will be lowered from 90 per cent to 85 per cent of the value of their homes.
The government will withdraw its insurance backing on lines of credit secured on homes, such as home equity lines of credit.
“Taxpayers should not bear any risk related to consumer debt products unrelated to house purchases. Those risks should be managed by the financial institutions that originate and offer these practices,” Flaherty said Monday.
It is the third time in three years that Flaherty has tightened credit rules while interest rates remain historically low.
The new restrictions are intended to ensure that Canadians don’t slip into unmanageable debt, which could throw the economic recovery off the rails, he said.
“Today’s measures are about our government continuing to protect the stability of the economy by ensuring lenders’ practices are sustainable, which will in turn ensure Canadian families have increasingly secure and sustainable home ownership.”
Flaherty targeted home-equity loans and lines of credit because some Canadians were using the money on consumer goods rather than to build equity into their homes, he said.
“They are used to buy boats and cars and big-screen TVs, and that’s not the business mortgage insurance was designed for,” he said. “Our measures will help improve the financial situation of households in Canada.”
The Bank of Canada announced earlier this month that Canadians’ domestic debt burdens had hit the highest levels on record. The bank said the ratio of household debt to disposable income has reached 148 per cent — which is higher than in the United States.
The International Monetary Fund also recently warned that household debt is the number one risk to the Canadian economy. Canadian household debt is now at $1.4 trillion, while mortgage delay payments have increased by 50 per cent.
However, Flaherty maintained that Canada is not facing a debt crisis.
“We are responding to a situation that could develop,” he told reporters.
“It’s obvious we could have gone farther. We have not touched down-payment requirements, for example. This is intentional. We are trying to strike the right balance so that we do not create any sort of shock in the market, or any sort of dramatic pressure in the market.”
The measures are equivalent to boosting interest rates by half a percent but are more specific, according to Douglas Porter, deputy chief economist at The Bank of Montreal.
“This is way a way of not affecting a lot of innocent bystanders, including the manufacturing and the tourism sector, by putting more upward pressure on the Canadian dollar,” Porter told The Canadian Press.
Meanwhile Avery Shenfeld, chief economist at CIBC, said the new rules will have only a “marginal” effect on mortgage lending.
“It’s the difference between somebody borrowing $200,000 and $180,000 or 190,000,” he said. “More dramatic would have been to raise the down payment, which would have a larger impact on people’s ability to finance their first home.”
BNN’s Michael Kane said Flaherty is clearly concerned that Canada’s low lending rates have inspired people to borrow more than they would normally.
“What he is saying, and he reiterated this two or three times, is we see Canadians borrowing to the max at record low interest rates, and what he is afraid of is that when interest rates to start to rise…then you can get into a dangerous situation where you can’t pay down your mortgage,” Kane told CTV’s Canada AM.
With files from The Canadian Press and CTV news staff.
$200,000 granted to Options for Homes for first-of-its-kind home ownership assistance in Kitchener
Funding available for residents looking to make a new start in the New Year
(Kitchener, January xx, 2011) For many, the purchase of a new home is the single largest financial decision made in one’s lifetime. This is especially true for first-time buyers.
At such a time, it is easy to let excitement cloud the magnitude of costs that go into purchasing a home. Taking the next step into home ownership can seem overwhelming when considering a mortgage and/or condo fees, not to mention saving for the initial down payment.
Options for Homes is proud to announce that it has secured access to $200,000 loan financing to assist individuals looking to purchase their first home. The loans are provided by Home Ownership Alternatives Non-Profit Corporation, a mortgage brokerage licensed with the province. This is the first time in Kitchener that such a program has been offered.
Up to $10,000 per applicant is available in a loan to use towards the required down payment of a new property. The loan requires no payments until the unit is re-sold sometime in the future.
The program does not provide 100% of the required down payment. Successful applicants must have some personal funds to contribute to the initial purchase. For example, a prospective home buyer can approach Options for Homes with a as little as a $1000 down payment and apply to the fund to secure the balance of the 5% required.
“With 80% of Tanglewood purchasers being first-time buyers, there is a need to support individuals to make home ownership possible,” says Jan Ciuciura of Options for Homes. “We have found that mortgage payments are not the largest deterrent in the decision to buy, but rather saving for the initial down payments. Thanks to Home Ownership Alternatives, we now have a tool that works to help first-time buyers to make their dreams come true.”
The loans are available to be used at Options for Homes’ 120 units Tanglewood Condominium project, located in the community of Laurentian Hills in the southwest corner of Kitchener. These multi-generation units, ranging from Bachelor to Three Bedroom apartments, cost between $120,000 and $260,000.
If you are thinking of investing in the booming condo market here in Kitchener-Waterloo, one building you need to check out is the Tanglewood Condo building slated for construction summer of 2011. With presales underway the lift potentail of this building has lots of advantages for both investors and residential buyers alike.
With prices starting at $119,900 for a bachelor this open concept floor plan gives that loft stlye flavour that so many buyers are looking for. If you enjoy travelling the bachelor would give you a place to call home while you are here.
For as little as $100 to reserve your unit, tanglewood can get you into home ownership for a very affordable price.
One unique concept is the builder boost option that can increase your down payment by up to 10%. This option is a equity only option meaning that it only has to be paid back when you go to sell your unit in the future. This way a first time condo buyer can reduce the CMHC fee’s and enjoy equity appreciation while building a nest egg for their future.
For more information on Tanglewood Condo in Kitchener, feel free to give me a call at 519-579-4110 or email direct to baker_kevin@rogers.com for more information and sales center hours.
I just listed the Tanglewood Condo in Kitchener. The Tanglewood features owners with the opportunity of getting in on the ground floor with pre-construction pricing and also with a unique Down payment boosting option through the Options for Homes Company.
Have a look at the video explaining the opportunites that Tanglewood Condo in Kitchener and Options for Homes can offer you.
KITCHENER WATERLOO HOMES ONLINE.com 