By Warren McNeil,

The spring market is nearly here and our Team is really gearing up. The Bank of Canada has maintained the interest rates which is really good news.

See: http://creanews.ca/2010/03/02/bank-of-canada-maintains-interest-rates-4/

Buyers are in the market right now looking to buy houses. However the biggest problem is low inventory levels. In January, the number of active listings was down 33% over 2009.

See: http://files.newswire.ca/577/MarketTrendsRpt2010.pdf

 Our team has been doing lots of market evaluations for people lately so we know that it’s going to be a busy spring.

Now is a good time to sell because of the following reasons:

• less inventory can work in the sellers favour. less competition
• low interest rates for buyers making it easier to buy
• there’s an abundance of buyers
• the minimum downpayment requirement is still 5% and not 10%
• the olympics are over. Not sure if that’s a good reason but it sounded good
• higher offer potential
• multiple offer potential

The next three months are going to be really interesting.

Thanks for reading!

We are a full-time real estate team in Waterloo Region, Woolwich & Wellesley Townships. We enjoy assisting buyers and sellers with the purchase or sale of real estate in the Kitchener-Waterloo, Cambridge, Elmira, Wellesley, Wilmot, Drayton and  everywhere in between. If you would like us to help you with your home search, please check out our brand-new free search website or if you are thinking of selling, get a free market evaluation.

Warren & Melanie McNeil | Sales Representatives, Team McNeil Re/Max Twin City Realty, Brokerage (  519.579.4110 | 519-498-8118                8 www.TeamMcneil.com, www.ClickThatHouse.com, www.LoftStyle.ca, www.ElmiraRealEstate.ca

Connect with us on the following social networks   Facebook: www.facebook.com/teammcneilremax

By Warren McNeil,

This is a question that gets asked almost every day. However the answer is a lot more complicated then just saying “it’s good” or “it’s bad”. Each area of the Kitchener-Waterloo real estate market is different. For example, according to the KW real Estate Board,  condos in Kitchener-Waterloo  had an increase in 2009 of 2.2% over 2008. Freehold condos increased by 2.2% and single detached homes increase was 0.3%.

In order to get a really accurate evaluation of the market, we need to isolate the area that you are most interested in. For example, lets look at freehold condominiums in Waterloo West less then 10 years old.  The next thing we do is pull up all the freehold townhouses that sold within the last year. Feb 1, 2009 – Feb 1, 2010. I get the following information.

units sold 83
average sale price: 249,500
average list to sale price ratio:  98%
average days on market: 38

Now lets do the same comparison for Feb 1, 2008- Feb 1, 2009

units sold: 59
average sale price: $250.439
average list to sale price ratio: 99%
average days on market: 62

As you can see there is quite a bit of difference. Last year, there were 30 more freehold condos sold then in the same period in 2008. The average sale price was pretty much the same. In 2008 the list to sale price was higher then 2009. The average days on market was alot better in 2009 then in 2008.

What’s my point here? Well it’s simple, each area of the market require seperate analysis to get truly accurate data. From now on, my response when somebody asks the question,  “How’s the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Market?” will be, it all depends on what information you are looking for. For Kitchener-Waterloo as a whole, I would say great!

Anyways, thanks for reading!

We are a full-time real estate team in Kitchener Waterloo area. We enjoy assisting buyers and sellers with the purchase or sale of real estate in the Kitchener-Waterloo or Cambridge areas. If you would like us to help you with your home search, please check out our brand-new free search website or if you are thinking of selling, get a free market evaluation.

Warren & Melanie McNeil | Sales Representatives, Team McNeil
Re/Max Twin City Realty, Brokerage (  519.579.4110 ~ 519-498-8118 
8 www.TeamMcneil.com, www.ClickThatHouse.com, www.LoftStyle.ca
P.S. Looking for a condo or loft, check out our brand new website at www.LoftStyle.ca!