Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News
October 9, 2019
October 9, 2019. In this week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: doing laundry in Kaohsiung, September home sales, vacant homes in KW, working from home, floor plan preferences, fighting porch pirates, east vs west, world’s largest airport, living in the future…
1
From my Kaohsuing rooftop…
I’m back in Asia for a little while, currently enjoying the heat and humidity of Kaohsiung. I made a video.
2
Strong September
Here are the important statistics from last month
- 526 residential properties sold in September, an increase of 17.7 per cent compared to the same month last year.
- Home sales in September included 330 detached (up 20.4 per cent),
- Sales of condominium apartments was down 24 per cent
- The average sale price of all residential properties sold in September increased by 10.2 per cent to $541,850 compared to September 2018.
- Detached homes sold for an average price of $612,643 (an increase of 7.1 per cent compared to September of last year.
- The median price of all residential properties sold last month increased 12.6 per cent to $510,000
- The median price of a detached home during the same period increased by 10.9 per cent to $576,500.
- The average days it took to sell a home in September was 22 days, which is three days fewer than it took in September 2018.
Read the full report here.
3
Waterloo’s number of vacant homes ranks among top in province
Waterloo has recently ranked in the top three across the province when it comes to the number unoccupied homes. The city’s vacancy rate increased by nearly 30 per cent. This data comes from a recent Point2 Homes report that suggests investor speculation and short-term rentals are largely to blame.
4
How working from home is changing real estate
People working from home is having a noticeable impact on real estate, with home offices becoming more sought after. Migration patterns have also changed as people move away from living in big cities where they were formally employed.
5
Each generation’s floor plan preferences
The desire for an open concept layout tends to drop with age: Only 40% of Generation Xers, 37% of baby boomers, and 29% of seniors show preference for such floor plans. The survey also looks at number of stories preferred.
6
Fight ‘porch pirates’ with this Guelph-based company’s smart mailbox
The Parcel Guard, launched by Danby in late July, is dubbed a “smart mailbox.” It is designed to keep safe the purchased products that have been delivered to your home.
7
Canada’s two real estate markets
The chasm between western and eastern Canada is best reflected in their respective real estate markets.
8
China opens the world’s largest airport
It gets a portion of its power from solar panels, and features rainwater collection and the natural storage, permeation and purification of up to 2.8 million cubic meters of water in new wetlands, lakes and streams to counter the “heat island” effect on the local microclimate in summer. The new airport will accommodate 72 million travellers per year.
9
Living in the future (in Kaohsiung)
Living here in Kaohsiung gives me the insight into the random simplicity of just going with the flow, taking it as it comes, mellowing out and living alone in the midst of a great crowd, the buzzing of motor scooters, the heat and humidity, the anonymity of a bearded wanderer with a $5 haircut and a slight limp brought on by lickerish toes, waiting to cross six lanes of traffic, avoiding the neighbourhood beggar as I watch the traffic countdown light and then my eyes wander to the giant pork chop rice restaurant sign and further up the street to the vegetarian buffet…hmmm, I see vegetables in my near future.
10
Further reading
Some things that bother people about their neighbourhoods
Kitchener Waterloo real estate news: simple pleasures, price per square foot, predicted growth through 2021, getting to work in 30 minutes, your MLS search, Canada’s fastest growing companies, Waterloo business stories, Times Square, words…
