Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News
May 9 2018
May 9 2018. In this week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: Waterloo Region Connected, the Big 12, April stats, the 16-point plan, latent defects, being a realtor, autonomous vehicles, home prices, passports, close up and flawed…
Getting connected
I was listening to a podcast recently that stated that since most of us don’t get the local newspaper anymore or watch local news, or go to local news sites, we have become either completely less informed or informed on only the biggest, national and international issues. With that in mind, this site Waterloo Region Connected came up earlier this week in a chat discussion and I thought I would share the link with you in case you don’t know of the site. It is a great source of local news and rumours.
The BIG 12
Answer me 12 questions and I will tell you the very best building, street or neighbourhood to buy. That’s a very sweet offer.
April Sales Statistics
The number of sales is down compared to last year.
Here are the highlights:
- 343 detached home were sold (down 30.7 per cent compared to April 2017). That’s a lot!
- 185 condominium units were sold (up 12.8 per cent)
- 41 semi-detached homes were sold in April (down 22.5 per cent)
- 46 freehold townhouses were sold (down 13.2 per cent).
- Currently there are almost 900 listing in Kitchener Waterloo. That is well below our historical average. I think we should be near 1500 at this time of year.
- Prices are down by about 4% compared to last April, but keep in mind that April last year is when we peaked.
The 12-months that was
One of the real estate blogs I read has a good look back at the past twelve months since the 16-point plan was announced and went into effect.
Exceptions to buyer beware and patent vs latent defects
In order to succeed in a claim against a vendor arising from a latent defect that arose after the sale was complete, the purchaser must show:
- The vendor made a representation of fact about the property;
- The representation they made was false;
- They knew, or ought to have known, that the representation was false; and
- The purchaser relied on the false representation when entering into the agreement of purchase and sale.
Being a Realtor
There are a few things about being a Realtor that are misunderstood by our clients. Here are some things are part of the job for us.
Waterloo Region named hub for autonomous vehicle research
Waterloo Region’s role, with help from Communitech, the University of Waterloo, the Waterloo Region Economic Development Corporation and Canada’s Open Data Exchange, will be to focus on mapping and localization technology.
6 charts that show that Canadian home prices are still historically high
After a spring of red-hot housing prices in 2017, the things have been cooler in the Canadian housing market of late. According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, the national average sales price was down 10.4 per cent year-over-year in March, the third consecutive decline since January.
But despite slightly lower year-over-year numbers, Canadian home prices are still well above where they were in decades past, and seem likely to continue inching upwards in the coming years. For a closer look into this phenomenon, BuzzBuzzNews has rounded up 6 charts to put things in perspective.
The richest countries with the weakest passports
Citizens of rich nations don’t necessarily have the best passports. In fact, some have incredibly limiting ones. But while Canada and China are two of the world’s biggest economies, those nationalities essentially lock their citizens in.
The closer you are, the easier it is to see the flaws
I went on a bit of a rant the other day on my main real estate website and blog. It was about how realtors market themselves; specifically about guaranteed sold programs, telemarketing calls and generic websites that don’t offer anything but the most wholesale and common of knowledge. In other words, they are gimmicky, interruptive and safe.
I suppose the closer you are to something the easier it is to see the flaws. I should just mellow out sometimes and let things be.
