King and Louisa Development

Kitchener Waterloo saw a lot of Real Estate news this week. A new 8 storey multi-residential building and a 3 unit multiple dwelling unit is being planned for the corner of King and Louisa Streets in Kitchener. This is consistent with our mixed-use and intensification objectives. I predict we’ll be seeing a lot more of this type of project along the future LRT route.

Spur line bike path

The development of a spur-line trail is the region’s top priority for off-road pathways. The trail will run from Regina Street in Waterloo to Wilhelm and Weber streets in Kitchener. It will cost about $2.5 million. There already exists a path along side the tracks but this new trail will encourage more foot traffic and cyclists  as it will connect to the Iron Horse Trail and Laurel Trail in Waterloo and to the new multi-model Hub in Kitchener.

Former car dealership site might be redeveloped for residential use

Most of us remember the site as Gary Stockie’s GM dealership. But that closed down in 2009. Then Mitsubishi moved in. But now there is speculation that a major change in land use could be coming to that section of Ottawa Street (between King and Weber) near downtown Kitchener. The neighbouring Olivet United Church has also been approached about selling its land. this all looks good for this long neglected part of Kitchener.

Mansion Street – Open House

122 Mansion Street, Kitchener is an executive town home located in the heart of Kitchener’s East Ward. This beautiful and spacious condo townhouse will be open to the public for viewing this Saturday and Sunday 2:00-4:00pm.

Come out and see us.

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This week in KW real estate:

February 11

February 4

January 27

January 20

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, for sale, open house, real estate, this week in real estate, Uncategorized by Keith Marshall
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Stated Income Home Buyers hit first

Last week in Kitchener Waterloo real estate’s weekly look at the housing market in Canada and in Kitchener Waterloo, I reported that the the mortgage rules were about to change. They did.

CIBC is the first bank to no longer accept new applications from so-called “stated-income” homebuyers. If other banks and mortgage brokers follow suit, it will become difficult for self-employed, new immigrants and higher-risk borrowers to get mortgages.

There is a lot of noise about Canada being at risk of a U.S. subprime housing crisis. The Post said that the housing bubble is really a balloon and the banks, government and mortgage companies are finding ways to let the air out slowly.

CHMC Hits Lending Limit

One of the other ways to cool the housing market is by not guaranteeing mortgages. The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will be cutting back on the number of mortgages it insures. The Crown corporation has almost reached the $600-billion lending cap imposed by the federal government. CMHC gave no indication whether it would seek an increase in its limit.

Financial institutions are required to have mortgage-default insurance when a consumer has less than 20% equity. The CMHC takes care of the majority of these. (Genworth Financial does too).

According to Genworth, Toronto and Vancouver may see some market corrections this year but states that it will not be an “abrupt correction, but more of a soft landing”.

Prices Rise in KW Cambridge

Here in Kitchener Waterloo, house prices increased by a whopping 12.9% in January (over January of a year ago).

The average sale price was $315,932. (In January 2010 it was $279,957). These numbers include all units sold (including condos). The average price a detached home rose 14.5%, to $361,470. Bank regulators have been taking aim at condo investors, and I predict we’ll see the air go out of this market first.

House prices also increased in Cambridge last month, but at a more moderate rate.

Open Houses

This weekend is Superbowl Sunday so Alasdair and I are taking the day off. We will be holding open houses today 2:00-4:00pm. Alasdair will be at 29-49 Cedarwoods Crescent in Kitchener (behind the Fairview Park Mall. I’ll be at my favorite Eastbridge listing – 639 Bonavista Drive, Wateloo.

Come out and see us.

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Filed under: condo, for sale, investing in real estate, mortgage, open house, real estate trends, this week in real estate by Keith Marshall
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There was a lot of news about the housing market last week and all of it good. Well good but cautionary really.

House Prices

First of all house prices are expected to keep rising this year. According to a report by Royal Lepage, Prudential Real Estate’s sister company, Canada’s housing market will continue to be strong this year, with rising property values expected in all major markets.

The report predicts that prices will rise across to country by 2.8% by the end of 2012, following stronger gains last year.

In the fourth quarter of 2011, the average price of a standard two-storey home was $375,427, up 4.2% from a year earlier. The average rate of a detached bungalow was up in 2011 by 6.1% to $344,392, while condominiums gained 3.6% to $234,680.

“Widespread calls for a major real estate correction in 2012 simply can’t be justified,” Royal LePage CEO Phil Soper said in a statement. “The industry has significant momentum entering the year, and buoyed by the stimulative effect of very low interest rates, we expect the market to continue to expand.”

Mortgage rules

In the face of historically low interest rates, our federal government remains concerned that the real estate market is getting overheated. Our government is concerned that the housing market will over-inflate and the bubble will burst. If this happens, it would have a large negative impact on our AAA rated economy. As they did last year, they are looking at ways to tighten regulations, making it harder for individuals to qualify for loans. One of these measures are aimed at self-employed individuals (like myself) and how we self-disclose what we make when applying for a loan.

In the case of condominium buyers, the government is considering a proposal that would include 100% of the condo fees as debt. This would impact the Loan to Debt Ratio of the loan applicant.

Third best economy in Canada

The CIBC released a report that showed that Waterloo Region has the third best economy in Canada. The report attributes our success to our high tech sector, irregardless of what’s happening at RIM.

Housing activity, population growth, employment, and bankruptcy statistics were some of the variable measured for the report.

Agents of Change weekend activity

We’ll be holding an open house this Sunday from 2:00-4:00pm at 49 Cedarwoods Crescent, Unit 29. It’s a quiet condo townhouse complex right behind the Fairview Park Mall. Come on out and see the house. It’s nice. Meet us. We’re nice too.

Filed under: Around Kitchener Waterloo, Buying Real Estate, canada, general news, open house, real estate, real estate trends, real estate vocabualry, this week in real estate by Keith Marshall
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Alasdair and I were holding a couple of open houses over this past weekend. There are a couple of things we learned and the impressions we got from our visitors that we’d like to share.

One of the main impressions from conversations we had this weekend was that people are struggling to understand property values and how different properties compare in the current market place. This is hardly surprising considering that for one family that we spoke with, the properties visited ranged from 1960’s bungalows to much newer construction. Trying to draw a link between different property types in different but adjacent neighborhoods, and arriving at a reasonable opinion of value, based upon very little detailed information and analysis is challenging.

This is where having the services of professional, knowledgeable and service oriented realtors like Alasdair and I will help you make sense of the pricing and value of the properties visited.

It’s surprising to me that people try to learn about the market on their own, when we are here to help. If you’d like to sit down with Alasdair and I to plan your approach to the market, let us know and we’d be glad to meet you and help you as early in the process as possible. Sooner or later it is likely that a realtor will be involved in the sale or purchase of your home. You want great value in your home, you might as well get value out of your realtor as well. the earlier you involve a realtor in your home search, the more value you are receiving and the more help we can be to you.

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Filed under: advice, Around Kitchener Waterloo, Buying Real Estate, editorial, open house, real estate trends, Selling Real Estate by Keith Marshall
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I was in the sauna at my club when one of the other members commented that he was waiting for the home prices to go down before buying his next house. I had to tell him that housing prices are not going down. They’re going up. I think maybe his problem was that he wasn’t paying attention to the local news or even perhaps the national news. You hear a lot of news about real estate prices, but most of that news is out of the states. And much of that isn’t good.

In fact, the opposite is actually true in Canada. All the news about the Canadian economy and our housing market is positive. Here’s what happened this week in real estate:

Canada’s AAA rating

Earlier this month Canada’s AAA credit rating was overwhelmingly endorsed by all of the rating agencies. This means, foreign governments see Canada as a solid investment – a great country to lend money too. Money is flowing into Canada.

Canadian home prices continue to rise.

Although home prices were suppose to soften in 2011, it was reported in Property Wire last week, that the average price increase in Q4 2011 was at least 3.6% over 2010. Furthermore, they predict a further increase of 2.8% through 2012. And, now the experts are saying don’t expect any market correction until 2013.

Mortgage war breaks out. Finance Minister ready to intervene

A mortgage price war broke out among Canada’s major banks when The Bank of Montreal posted the lowest mortgage rate in Canadian history. The other big banks all followed suit. Our federal Finance Minister, Jim Flaherty said he stands ready to intervene in the housing market again. He does not want it to overheat. So much for a cooling market and prices going down, eh?

RIM and local real estate

On a local level, The Waterloo Region Record reported that the Kitchener Waterloo real estate industry is still keen on the local market despite RIM’s woes. The article was talking about commercial real estate but I think it’s safe to say our real estate market in KW is not impacted by what happens at RIM.

Share

Share this article if you know someone who is going to be buying or selling a home in the next year to 18 months. And if you’re thinking of buying or selling real estate yourself, please give me and Alasdair a call. We like to share.

Open House

Visit us at our open house this Saturday and Sunday 2-4pm 639 Bonavista Drive, Waterloo.

Filed under: advice, Around Kitchener Waterloo, Buying Real Estate, open house, real estate trends, RIM by Keith Marshall
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