September 8 2017

Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News Update

September 8 2017. In today’s news: mortgage data, Airbnb, bacon, Starbucks, August real estate statistics, Student move in problems, innovation awards and a cool real estate market

You’ve heard of car-free buildings. How about bike-specific condos?

Most older condos don’t allow unit owners to bring bikes into common areas such as elevators, fearing damage, wear and tear and inconvenience to other residents. Nor do they want people storing them on their balconies, for safety and aesthetic reasons. That’s changing.

Mortgage data

There were just over $1 million new mortgage loans funded in Canada last year — up 1.4% year-over-year, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. Of those new loans, 39.6% were for new-owners and 9.5% were for home owners moving to a new home.

Estimate your place on Airbnb

I don’t know how accurate this is, but it is a pretty cool app if you have a short-term place to rent out.

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Long live bacon

In terms of bacon, KW spends more than average and since you know how much I love correlations, some unexplained bacon correlations include a high correlation with visits to the vet, satellite TV, owning trucks and SUVs, and giving to charities.

Starbucks or Starbucks?

More than 62% of Starbucks now compete with at least one other Starbucks coffeeshop. After years of opening new locations, the Seattle-based coffee chain’s relentless pursuit of ubiquity is becoming one of its own foils.

Buy high

Some home sellers in Toronto are finding the buyers of their homes are trying to renegotiate the deals just days before closing. In this rapidly cooling real estate market, some buyers seem to be regretting how much they agreed to pay back in the hot spring sales season. In other cases, buyers aren’t able to secure financing because the home they are buying is not worth the price agreed when they signed the deal. And what happens if a buyer cannot close?

5 Products on Deep Discount in September

September is a good time to buy washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, and, as fall approaches, leaf blowers. With the new school year starting, it’s also a good time to snag a deal on desktop and notebook computers.

World University Rankings 2018

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2018 list the top 1,000 universities in the world

KW homes sales ‘steady’ in August

We listed 589 residential properties in K-W and area last month, which is on par with August of 2016. Inventory levels continue to be low at just two months of inventory at the end of August.

‘It adds some additional stress to students that are already stressed out’

CIX has revealed its top 20 most innovative tech companies for 2017

Cloud DX and Euclid Labs are on the list.