Rules for Homebuyers Lee QuaileBroker of Record Admitting failure and backtracking is difficult enough for most people, but when’s the last time you heard of a government-affiliated agency tapping out and issuing a public statement outlining their mistakes? It’s a rare occurrence! But that’s exactly what happened earlier this week when Canada’s federal housing agency (CMHC) came...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record As we round the corner from June into July and the summer holiday season gets well and truly underway, tradition dictates a seasonal slow-down in real estate markets. At least, that’s how things have usually unfolded along historical lines. But with an anything-but-normal past 18 months, are any of us out there really surprised by this point that sale...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record Waterloo Region’s continued growth and resilience in the face of all obstacles has been a common thread across much of the material I’ve published over the past year and a half. Real estate is, of course, the lens through which we’ve monitored the developments of an unpredictable and tumultuous time, but it must be said that a strong housing market is an...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record This week we’re making a return to our continuing series of profiles on the smaller towns and communities dotted throughout Chestnut Park West’s predominant market area. We’re also making a return to Wellington County, and to the township of Centre Wellington – Fergus, to be exact. An independent town until 1999 when it merged with the Village of Elora and a...
Key Things to Remember Lee Quaile Broker of Record Just yesterday our local real estate board released its monthly statistics report for the Kitchener-Waterloo market. The numbers tell a story which will, by now, be familiar to most of you – average sale prices are way up over last year, average time to sell is way down, more listings than ever are being sold each month, and a record number of...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record Each spring, my brokerage (Chestnut Park West) works to compile a buyer-friendly guide to the newest condominium developments that are taking shape around our region. While last year’s guide unfortunately was not able to come together due to the uncertainty brought about by the pandemic and the resultant difficulties in contacting developers and sales centers, I’m...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record Plenty can change over the course of a year – something we know all too well looking back from where we stand here in May of 2021. While entire aspects of our daily lives have been upended, with the increasingly rapid pace of vaccine rollouts we’re now able to see a return to normality a little more clearly on the horizon. But on the real estate front,...
Here’s the Latest Lee QuaileBroker of Record A few weeks ago, I posted a short article which outlined word of proposed changes to Canada’s mortgage stress-test. In short, our financial sector is beginning to take steps towards shoring up our market against potential hikes in interest rates over the medium term. This is particularly crucial now, as we’re in the midst of a very hot...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record One of the true hidden gems among the small towns of Southwestern Ontario lies just outside of Stratford, and a little under an hour’s drive from Kitchener-Waterloo. Positioned between more heavily-travelled Ontario highways, one typically would need to be deliberately seeking St Marys out to arrive in its charming downtown – but this town will make such a journey...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record It’s official – the tiny homes movement will soon be coming to a neighbourhood near you. Just this week, Kitchener City Council unanimously approved a motion to allow additional dwelling units to be constructed on qualifying existing lots all across the city. This amendment is expected to affect the status of as many as 57,000 properties in Kitchener, with...