July 4 2017
Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News Update
You now need more than a flashlight and a business card
The Ontario government passed legislation to regulate the home inspection industry and establish qualifications for home inspectors. The Home Inspection Act 2017 establishes minimum standards for home inspection contracts, home inspection reports, disclosures and the performance of home inspections.
Floating a new idea
It’s timely. The International Conference on Amphibious Architecture, Design and Engineering held its annual meeting last week at UW. Amphibious architecture refers to a system that would make it possible for a house to float on water in order to avoid serious flood damage.
They are not done yet
Analysts at CREA think a tax on speculative home sales might be coming. It is domestic investors not foreign investors to blame for our super heated housing market. In Vancouver, the tax’s effect was temporary. In Ontario, things could heat up again within six months.
It’s a bird. It’s a plane. It’s superhawk
To get rid of the 4,000 seagulls that have been showing up overnight at Waterloo’s NCR property, hawks were brought in to move them along.
Kitchener plans for a superpark
Kitchener wants to buy 35 acres of land from the Waterloo Region District School Board to build the city’s biggest sports park. Located near Fischer-Hallman and Huron roads, the park is expected to include a community centre, three sports fields, and green space.
The end of double ending
Ontario is proposing banning the practice of double ending, in which a real estate agent represents both a buyer and a seller in a transaction. I hope these measures will apply to teams.
Coming in for a soft landing
The numbers are a little screwy but all agree that the number of sales is down and the number of listings is up. But what about prices? Both down and up. Down from a couple of months ago but still up over this time last year. That is why it is so confusing.