Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News
Wednesday May 27, 2020
Wednesday May 27, 2020, In this weeks Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate News: Corona summer, KW food map, housing crash?, days on market, Sales to new listing ratio, indicators, washers, dryers, social distancing, recovery…
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Looking ahead to a Corona summer
As the weather warms up, we are getting a first look at what our summer under Coronavirus might look like. The cities of Kitchener and Waterloo consider loosening liquor laws, blocking off major roadways to automobile traffic and other ways to encourage more walking, biking and better social distancing.
Although all of our festivals have now been cancelled, as we slowly lighten up, loosen restrictions, we discover that we have our systems in place for grocery shopping. Deliveries are happening. Curb-side pickup is a new normal. More and more people are wearing masks… We are going to be ok.
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Kitchener-Waterloo food map
Kitchener and Waterloo have put together an interactive map displaying eateries still open during the pandemic. The map includes restaurants, cafes, grocery stores and bodegas offering pick-up, curb-side and delivery options.
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Coronavirus is shaking up Canada’s housing market, but don’t expect a crash
Where prices go depends on so many hard-to-predict factors, such as how many businesses will fail, how many of those furloughed workers will end up permanently laid off, how many people will be forced to sell after mortgage deferrals and government subsidies end…
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How’s the market?
Do days on market and other indicators matter during the Coronavirus lockdown?
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Washers and dryer are social distancing dream machines
Here’s an interesting look at what’s actually luring condo unit buyers right now.
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How Coronavirus may change your next home
Designers and architects expect the pandemic to affect apartment design long after the lockdowns are over. Here are a few trends you’re likely to see.
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Space is the new luxury
Could the coronavirus prompt an urban exodus in Ontario?
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Expect rapid post-pandemic recovery
Canadian market activity and purchasing power will be able to recover quickly after the outbreak eases, according to outgoing Bank of Canada Governor Stephen Poloz.
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How much have home prices and sales dropped in Kitchener-Waterloo?
Realtors like to look at average days on market and median sales price and sales price to list price ratios. They are all good indicators of how the market is behaving (and indicators of where it is possibly going). Realtors like hot markets.
The media likes big headlines and isn’t afraid of wild predictions. Prices could drop by 20% if we go into a deep recession.
Somewhere in between these two forces is the truth. Canada and more importantly Kitchener-Waterloo is slowly moving into balanced market territory. The number of sales to new listing ratio in Kitchener-Waterloo moved from an SNLR of 75% in February to 54% in April, meaning buyers faced less competition for new listings in April than they did in February. Home sales in K-W fell 51% but new listings only dropped 32%.
Last week, about the middle of May, the market shifted again, sales and listings are still down, but activity is certainly picking up.
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Further Reading
Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate News
What to look out for when buying your first condo
