Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News
September 11, 2019
September 11, 2019. In this week’s Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: busy, Budd, August statistics, ghost homes, interest rates, local tech, Ontario slang, surreal destinations, sales cycles
1.
Busy? Not really.
I really like the cyclical nature of real estate. It doesn’t bother me when the number of clients that I’m working with dwindles down to a few, like it does during the summer. I cope just as well when I am busy with several showings and other appointments for days and days everyday and weeks on end. I’ve learned now that I am into my 13th year as a real estate agent that business comes when it comes. And I am ok with that. I’m not only ok with that, I like it. Knowing that takes the pressure off.
2.
Plans for Kitchener’s former Budd Plant lot announced
For ten years, the parcel of land has sat vacant on the south end of the city. Now a 35,000 square foot medical centre, featuring doctor’s offices, specialists, and stare of the art imaging, will be coming to the northern part of the industrial park.
3.
Kitchener-Waterloo August home sales decrease and increases…
Here is a snapshot from August:
- Through our local MLS, 459 residential properties sold in August, a decrease of 9.1 per cent compared to the same month last year.
- The average sale price of all residential properties sold in August increased by 6.4 per cent to $524,482 compared to August 2018.
- The median price of a detached home during the same period increased by 2.8 per cent to $560,000.
- The median price of all residential properties sold last month increased 8.1 per cent to $495,000
- Listed locally were 574 residential properties, a decrease of 14.5 per cent compared to August of 2018, and a decrease of 13 per cent in comparison to the previous ten-year average for the month of August.
- The total number of homes available for sale in active status at the end of August totalled 734, a decrease of 17.3 per cent compared to August of last year.
- The average days it took to sell a home in August was 26 days, which is two days fewer than it took in August 2018.
4.
“Ghost” homes across Canada. Vacant homes are more common now than ever
Canada’s housing problem extends beyond foreign buyers jacking up prices and unaffordability taking over major cities. Investor speculation and short-term rentals are the main culprits behind high vacancy rates (creating ghost homes) in places like Toronto and Vancouver. In many other cities across the nation, decreasing populations, combined with fluctuations in local economies, are also contributing to the spike in the number of vacant homes.
5.
Bank of Canada holds interest rates but cuts are likely in the autumn.
Most analysts and traders think the Bank of Canada will leave interest rates unchanged in September, but cut in October or December. The thinking is that the negative effects of the trade wars will eventually consume Canada they way they have countries such as Australia, Germany, and South Korea.
6.
Local tech companies to be showcased at October conference
Applied Brain Research, eleven-x and ApplyBoard have all been recognized by the Canadian Innovation Exchange
7.
From ‘soaker’ to ‘bush party,’ linguist pushing to add Ontario slang to dictionary
‘May 2-4’ and ‘bar-hopping’ are also made in Ontario words and phrases. Click here for a few more.
8.
Top 10 surreal places on Earth
From Spotted Lake, in BC’s Okanagan Valley to the Indonesia’s Rainbow Trees, here are some beautiful scientific marvels.
9.
The life cycle of a sales agent.
I was picking up some keys at a new brokerage last week. The place was a buzz with activity. All the agents were young and hustling for business. Some were in the boardroom, in training, others were on the telephone and others were at their computers working away industriously. They wore fashionable clothes and haircuts and for a few moments I felt like an intruder. I was still in ‘summer mode’.
I was still thinking about this on the weekend and I was telling a friend about it and he said, “relax, you don’t have to work so hard at finding new clients. You’re established”.
I know he’s right, but I still feel like I could be working harder.
10.
What to read next:
Why you shouldn’t buy the perfect place.
Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News: summertime, GO train, LRT and investment into Kitchener-Waterloo, speculation, exurbia, tech superstar cities, Canadian communities ranked, Youtube…
Life in Bob’s Utopia
