June 6 2018 Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News

KW news

Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News

June 6 2018

 

Wednesday June 6 2018. In this week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: in the red, May statistics, Terry Good, skateboard park, gaming, finding a dream home, 7 real estate charts, same stats, different news

Still in the red

I changed brokerages on Monday, moving from TheRedPin Brokerage to Red and White Realty. I can’t believe it has already been four years! TheRedPin was very good for me and to me and I was sad to leave some good friends behind, but it was time to come home. 

I’ve been thinking about it for a while. Essentially, it is just too hard to be an outside agent. It is too difficult to list properties as an associate member of the local board. That was my main motivation to come back to KWAR. 

I choose Red and White for the same reasons that 70 other local agents joined them:

  • A commission structure that makes sense
  • A cooperative office environment 
  • Experienced agents only
  • Virtual office software for all of the paperwork we need to submit
  • An office (didn’t have one at Red Pin)

Other than that, it is business as usual for me.

Landlord’s infamous home demolished

Terry Good’s former residence at 101 Mount Hope St. in Kitchener — where he was shot and left for dead by an ex-lover — and the adjacent property are being redeveloped by Burlington’s Stefan Cechovsky.

May stats

  • May home sales through the MLS of KWAR were up 12.5 per cent compared to last month and down 15.3 per cent compared to last year’s record-setting May.
  • A total of 692 residential properties sold in May compared to 817 the same time last year.
  • Residential sales in May included 
  • 414 detached (down 15.7 per cent compared to May 2017)
  • 169 condominium units (down 7.1 per cent)
  • 46 semi-detached homes (down 28.1 per cent)  
  • 53 freehold townhouses (down 24.3 per cent).
  • The average sale price of all residential properties sold in May decreased 2.4 per cent to $482,873 compared to the same month a year ago. 
  • Detached homes sold for an average price of $572,206 a decrease of 3.4 per cent compared to May of last year. 
  • The average sale price for an apartment style condominium was $301,052, an increase of 2.7 per cent. 
  • Townhomes and semis sold for an average of $365,715 (up 1.3 per cent) and $393,616 (up 2 per cent) respectively.
  • The median price of all residential properties sold last month was down 0.9 per cent compared to May of last year at $445,000,
  • The median price of a detached home during the same period decreased 2.8 per cent to $520,000.
  • REALTORS® listed 1,068 residential properties in K-W and area last month, down 15.8 per cent compared to May of 2017, but up 14.4 per cent compared to the historical (2007-2016) average. 
  • The number of active residential listings on the KWAR’s MLS® System to the end of May totalled 1,062, which is 27.9 per cent higher than May of last year but still significantly below the historical (2007-2016) ten-year average of 1,719 listings for May.

Two views on Open Houses

Do Open Houses work? 

This agent does not think so.

This agent does.

3 things stopping you from finding your dream home

In this post, we look at a few common hurdles, and talk about how you might expect to conquer them more efficiently and find a home you love.

Canada’s gaming industry contribute $3.7B to the economy

Gaming is big business in Canada—and it’s also a big employer, with openings for game designers, producers, programmers, artists, not to mention business, sales, and marketing roles.

Charting the course, or course 

Here are seven charts that show some changes to the Canadian housing market

The world’s most well-traveled real estate sign

It disappeared in New Jersey. Nearly six years later, it was found in France.

Same stats, different news

If you just read the headlines related to the local real estate market often is the case that the same statistics will lead to completely different headlines and interpretations. May statistics are a case in point. The Record reports that “Home sales dip in Waterloo”, whereas Global news says, “Kitchener-Waterloo home sales remain healthy in May”. 

Which is it? 

Are we sick or are we healthy?

Healthy, but different. 

The number of sales is down 15% from last year and average prices are down 2.4%. That’s the disconnect with the two headlines above. 

I only showed 22 homes in May this year. Last May I showed 72, but curiously with the same results (2 buyer sales). 

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Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News

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