Posts Tagged ‘Real Estate’

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Oakville Real Estate – Week in Review

Tuesday, February 8th, 2011

“Snowmagaddon” is a good comparison for the sensational articles written about Canada’s imminent decline of real estate values by economists and media outlets. In order to sell more papers or increase ratings, the media understands that dramatic headlines sell. Don’t be taken in by the hype. Full-time realtors, who are dedicated to an area, are far better barometers.

Here are the Oakville Real Estate statistics for the week of January 28 to February 4:

Price Range Listed Sold At/Above List Conditional DeListed Total Inventory
Leases 35 15 7 1 6 152
$100K – $500K 45 31 4 15 12 151
$500K – $1M 60 18 3 8 13 213
$1M – $2M 16 4 0 6 1 90
$2M plus 5 2 0 1 3 65
Total 161 70 14 31 45 671

The Oakville real estate market continues to be very warm for the right homes this week. Over 14 homes sold at list price or above, which is in-excess of 20%. Inventory of homes jumped a little, but it was mainly in the one to two million category. The market in some parts of Oakville such as West Kerr and West River is particularly tight, with almost no inventory. The properties on Old Mill (the three condominums by the Oakville GO Station) have about 1% inventory. With such tight inventory, prices will climb steadily as buyers are forced to purchase homes at certain price points.

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Living Well in a Small Space

Monday, January 24th, 2011
Kitchen - small space

Looking towards the kitchen

Living well in a small space is an art as well as a science. Rosamund Kavander designer and owner of Room Works has got it right.

During the past year, she has renovated her 1970′s 1500 sq ft town home into a luxurious retreat. All the levels of this home have been fully renovated; however, the greatest change took place on the main-floor by eliminating all the walls and creating one large room. However, with the continuity of materials and colour palate the space works as three unique rooms: kitchen, dining room, and living room. The kitchen boasts classic with cupboards, state of the art appliances, and white marble counters. The wood work carries into the dining room with built-in display shelves, and a coffered ceiling delineates the space. Your eye then travels into the living room where you can warm up by the fireplace. Here the designer visually creates the space using a bold hit of chocolate brown. The whole space is tied together with rich warm hardwoods that ground the space. (more…)

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Multiple Real Estate Offers in Oakville

Monday, January 17th, 2011
Glen Abbey home

The past week saw a resurgence of multiple offers, reaching a full 39% of sold listings. I began noticing this trend right at the beginning of the week. It seemed like the minute I forwarded a listing to a client, the property sold after multiple offers. Even if a property had been languishing for the entire fall, this was the week that buyers decided to purchase.

The desired properties are either new or built within the past 10 years, located north of QEW, and requiring no work. Those houses not drawing multiple offers are still selling within a few thousand dollars of the listing price. So, pricing is the key. Homes south of the QEW are moving, but even with older homes – even those well renovated – the buyers are not seeing the value of land. Buyers want an open concept floor plan and high ceilings, along with the master-suite plus at least two additional bedrooms on the same floor.

(more…)

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A New or Renovated Oakville Home?

Monday, November 15th, 2010
New or Renovated Home?

In many of Oakville’s older neighborhoods many of the homes are being renovated or torn down to prepare for a new build. As a buyer it can be very confusing to determine what is a better purchase. The new build will likely have all the bells and whistles with 9 to 10 foot ceilings, but the purchase price will be significantly higher then a renovation. Renovations can range from cosmetic to a total rebuild.

Each option has its pros and cons. The main question that a purchaser needs to ask when making an offer is: what is going on behind the walls? Make sure you ask the builder for all the permits to confirm that everything done was inspected. You should absolutely have a qualified home inspector go through the property, and remember to ensure that you’re home inspector has more experience then a college course.

Oakville residential real estate update for November 6th to 13th:

Price Range Listed Sold Conditional Sold Total Active Listings
Lease 23 8 0 168
$100K to $500K 32 22 17 221
$500K to $1M 25 15 7 285
$1M to $2M 7 4 3 112
2M plus 4 2 0 82
Total 91 51 27 868

Sales in Oakville this past week have remained steady, which a significant jump in $2M plus listings. But as is typical this time of year, listings are starting to drop as sellers decide that they will wait till the new year. Sales took a slight increase from last week, but this will start to slow as the holiday season approaches.

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Voting’s very real effect on Real Estate Values

Monday, October 25th, 2010

The outcome of Oakville’s election can have a very drastic effect on the value of Oakville’s properties. As we have seen during the last 2 years, having elected officials who have a solid understanding of the issues, the workings of all levels of government, and their constituents’ views has saved Oakville from a very serious stigma: the power plant. If this hadn’t been the case, then we would likely have seen the values of Oakville homes plummet. So it is extremely important to carefully consider whom you vote in to all positions from Mayor, councilor school trustee to regional councilor. Their decisions can impact your property values for years.

Pulse of Oakville Real Estate Market

The Oakville Real Estate market is still hovering between a buyers’ and a balance market. Sales jumped this week, especially in the $1M to $2M category. Realtors with large number of high-end property listings where talking about a renewed interest in Oakville real estate from international clients. Most of this interest, they believe can be attributed to the canceling of the Power Plant. So, the market will likely tell us in the next couple of months.

Globe & Mail’s Useless Real Estate Article

An interesting article on Real Estate from the Globe & Mail came out this week. It was a broad over reaching generalization. Vancouver is over inflated, but as you’ll see from this week’s numbers the buyers have not evaporated from the Oakville real estate market. Our prices where low to begin with because of the Power Plant, so now that the stima has been removed we’ll likely see increased sales as the months continue. However, there will be a slowing of the market during the holiday season, which is completely normal.

Oakville real estate statistics for the week of October 16 to 23:

Price Range Listings Sales Conditional Sales Active Listings
Leases 25 13 1 140
100K to 500K 33 20 22 255
500K to 1M 28 27 9 310
1M to 2M 8 6 7 133
2M plus 5 0 0 87
Total 99 66 39 925

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