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 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...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record A couple of weeks back I pushed out a post on how the student housing market here in Waterloo has been faring in the midst of an unprecedented past 12 months. The full article is available for review here, but the Coles Notes version is that we’ve been performing much better than was expected initially. Even in the worst of the pandemic, more university...
Lee QuaileBroker of Record Inflation and real estate aren’t two things we often see mentioned in the same sentence. Our notice of the effects of inflation is usually limited to everyday purchases – food, clothing, gas or other household items. After all, it makes sense you’d take note when your weekend grocery run ends up costing you significantly more over time, since it’s...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record Sometimes extraordinary things can start to feel routine if they happen often enough – a phenomenon many of us in the real estate business might be beginning to experience for ourselves. Ever since the pandemic bit down on us last spring, housing prices have soared in defiance of all initial expectations here in Waterloo-Wellington. The latest report released by KWAR...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record Over the past several weeks, I’ve outlined the case for optimism regarding the student housing market in Waterloo on a couple of occasions, most thoroughly here. What seemed to be a particularly vulnerable sector amid the initial uncertainty of last year has since demonstrated an impressive knack for resiliency, with vacancy rates staying low and property...
Presenting our Award Winners for 2020! Lee QuaileBroker of Record After the dramatic ups and downs of the past year, I wanted to take a step away from my typical style of content this week to recognize the achievements of some of my friends and colleagues here at Chestnut Park West. 2020 started out by being anything but certain – I’m sure we can all remember what we were doing almost...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record These are far from the easiest of times to be operating in our market as a home buyer – we get it. The past few months have seen staggering increases in average sale prices across all types of housing in Waterloo-Wellington which have seemingly been pricing ever more people right out of the market, and dashing dreams of homeownership for prospective first-time...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record As temperatures are beginning to edge back above the freezing mark and our days are getting longer, we’re finally in the home stretch of this year’s long pandemic winter. While it hasn’t been an easy season for many of us, perhaps for no group is this truer than those folks who have been trying to get a foot in the door of the local housing...
Lee Quaile Broker of Record A Cautionary Tale. My final post this week is going to be a bit of a departure from my usual analysis. Instead, I’d like to bring a real-life event to your attention – something which occurred just this past week at my own brokerage, and it’s a situation that highlights just how valuable proper representation in the real estate world can be. I know many...