Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News
June 19, 2019
Wednesday June 19, 2019. In this week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: Ion, LRT, broker, trust, first time home buyer incentive, fake news, real estate forecast, world prices of many things, road names
1
Ion 4. Cars 0.
At long last the LRT is going to start opening its doors to riders later this week. It’s about time. It has been extra frustrating for the past year watching that thing go by empty and even more annoying sitting at an intersection with the lights flashing, arms down and the train sitting there, just sitting there, not moving down the track. Earlier this week, one morning I was in a situation like that. I’m the first car behind the safety arm and as the cars built up behind me and our frustration grew, a chorus of honking horns rang out and I had to laugh out loud. It’s no wonder that there have been four accidents with the Ion in the past little while. It’s like a houseguest that won’t go away. It’s just there, serving no purpose but to irritate us.
2
Why we built the LRT (Ion)
Friday’s launch of ION is the culmination of discussions and planning that dates back to the year 2000. It’s all about managing the massive population growth in the region, with some predicting the addition of 200,000 people in 20 years. In the 2006 census, the region’s population was just over 478,000 and that climbed to just over 535,000 in 2016.
3
Cambridge real estate broker loses bid to stop disciplinary hearing
Steve Bailey is accused of multiple breaches of laws governing Ontario’s real estate industry. If found guilty, Bailey could lose his real estate licence and face fines of up to $50,000, plus a further $100,000 for the brokerage.
4
Yes, you can trust your real estate broker
In movies and on TV, real estate agents are often portrayed as dumb, shallow, unethical and untrustworthy. And that may be true for a small fraction of our members. But brokers who don’t earn their clients’ trust, who can’t close deals, who do not get referrals and repeat business do not stay in business very long.
5
First time home buyer incentive to launch in September
Details of the first-time home buyer incentive were announced by the federal government on Monday, three months after it was introduced as part of the 2019 budget. At that time, the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation said it would put $1.25 billion towards helping first-time buyers apply for insured mortgages over the next three years.
6
Fake news fools us and we know it.
A survey by CIGI reveals our distrust of the internet that is being fuelled by growing skepticism of social-media services like Facebook and Twitter. Social media is our leading source of internet distrust, cited by 89 per cent of people. Almost 90 per cent of those surveyed said they have been fooled by fake news at least once. Facebook was the most commonly noted source of phoney news, followed closely by Twitter.
7
Forecasted home sales up, not down this year
The Canadian Real Estate Association is upgrading its forecast for 2019 home sales to show a slight improvement compared with last year rather than a decline. The association says home sales are now projected to edge up 1.2 per cent from last year to 463,000 units in 2019 compared with its previous forecast for a decline of 1.6 per cent this year. They were way off! That’s like a 3 per cent difference.
8
Mapping the world’s prices 2019
Are you interested in the best city to rent a two bedroom apartment? How about a great place for a cheap date? From Coca-cola to haircuts to internet rates to the price of gas, this survey is a big data dump. This is the 8th annual Deutsche Bank survey of global prices and living standards from various countries and cities around the world.
9
On the road
It used to be that roadways were named for where they went. For example in Toronto, Kingston Road was once the road most traveled along Lake Ontario toward Kingston. Another example, in Kitchener there is a Waterloo Road which leads into Waterloo.
Naming highways was the same in the early days (they were named for where they went) and then highways were named for some local icon, be that a person or a thing (Gardener’s Expressway, Conestoga Parkway).
Just like mispronouncing Weber Street is a dead giveaway showing your newness in town, referring to the Conestoga Parkway as anything other than the Expressway or the 7/8 does the same. This article about Southern Californian Freeways made me think about this.
10
What to read next:
Mistakes to avoid when moving to the suburbs
Last week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: realtor reflections, May real estate statistics, housing starts, Florida, real estate bubble, software developers’ real estate, New York, Lone star bushwhackers.
