Lately this question is the one almost everyone I meet asks. The answer is not a simple one as it depends on your perspective. If you look at the overall GTA market from October of last year to October of this year the number of sales is down 35%. Uxbridge shows a similar drop in comparing October 2007 to October 2008. GTA Average prices from October 2008 are down 10% from October 2007 while in Uxbridge the average price in 2008 is up almost 15% from 2007. While this may seem to be good news for Uxbridge the low number of sales and the mix of sales could be distorting the overall picture. In reality, a property for sale now is also showing a drop in price in the Uxbridge area, in the same percentage range as the overall GTA price drop.

How Is The Uxbridge Market Doing?

While statistics do not tell the whole story some people find them intriguing; so they are here for those that do. 2007 showed a slight downward trend in average prices, starting the year of at $404,365 and ending at $375,368, the average for the year being $396,239.

2008 so far has seen the Average Prices continues to climb from $399,254 at the first of the year with October average of $413.129 with the average for the year to date being $396,221

In 2007 there were on average 28 sales per month, with an average of 123 active listings; so far in 2008 there have been an average of 26 sales and 177 listings per month. When we look at the breakdown of sales in a given month we better understand why average sales figures are somewhat meaningless. especially if the number of sales is relatively small and the market place has a wide spectrum of housing type, sizes and price ranges.

The chart below shows the number and average sale price for each type of residential sales for October 2008 and October 2007. As you can see the average figures for those two months of $353,896 in 2007 and $413,129 in 2008 were affected by the number of sales in the different housing categories as well as the total number of houses sold.

Looking at trends might just be a better way of determining where the market is headed. By comparing the number of properties available, to the number of properties sold from one year to the next, we get a feel for what the market is doing.

When you look at the number of active listings and apply a linear trend line we see that 2007 had a very stable trend towards a slight increase in the number of homes available. In 2008 the trend was to an ever growing number of homes available. Both years show peaks in April, May and June. Both years then show a leveling off and begin to climb once again. While 2007 could be attributed to the natural ebb and flow of the market. 2008 begins to show some signs of change, with more recent months showing more obvious changes.

Notice the growing difference between the two years. Without a similar growth in the number of sales, this is leading up to a buyers market. The average number of sales for this period in 2007 was 30 and in 2008 it was only 26, another indicator of a buyers market approaching

The following chart is the most telling as it looks at number of solds in 2008 as a percentage of the number of solds in the same period in 2007. One set of figures shows the sales on a monthly basis and the other on a cumulative basis. While the market for this year started off poorly it was headed for a comparable year in overall sales to last year until August. Based on the information in the above chart and the one below where the two trend lines intersect is where the market shows the potential of turning from a relatively stable market into a full blown buyers market.

In remembrance of all who put themselves in Harms way so that we could,
and continue too, be able to enjoy the freedoms we enjoy today.

In Flanders fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved, and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

"Two minutes on November 11th and 5 minutes on any given day"

"Terry Kelly recorded the song A Pittance in Time" and included it on his full-length music CD, "The Power of the Dream"

."..... I feel her awakening to what was, I feel the private hell of our fallen heroes and their families, and of our soldiers who are living and dying overseas, today. I remember my own father, a veteran. I remember! " ... from an article by Matthew Clulow

DAY IS DONE

Photo - Poppy field - D.Baranauskas - From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Lucy Maude Montgomery Society of Ontario is holding a Christmas gift sale with all the proceeds going to the LMMSO Society Renovation Fund.This is your opportunity visit the manse while enjoying a drive in the country. Help support this worthwile project by purchasing; quality home made gifts with a personal touch, decorations for your home, home baking or preserves

This Friday or Saturday take a short rip to Leaskdale and visit the Leaskdale Manse, Home of the famous Canadian Author “Lucy Maud Montgomery” and her husband Rev. Ewan Macdonald a Presbyterian minister from 1911 to 1926, It was during her residence here that she wrote 11 of her 22 best selling novels.

Friday November 7th 1 pm to 7 pm
Saturday November 8 th 10 am to 4 pm

Admission $2.00

The Manse is located on Durham 1 in Leaskdale just a few minutes north of Uxbridge

Designated as a Provincial Historical site in 1965 and a National Historic site in 1997 the home along with St. Paul's Presbyterian Church are quickly becoming a significant part of the venues that attract tourists to Uxbridge.

November 28th

Don't forget to mark your calendar for the Floral Christmas Afternoon Workshop and an Old-Fashioned Christmas Concert/Carol Sing in the evening at the Historic St. Paul's Presbyterian Church in Leaskdale.

How often is it that some one sends you an email with a joke a saying or a video.
Some are inane some are funny some are rude. Once in a while one really strikes a cord.
While I do not generally post or forward information I recieve in emails.

This one struck a cord.

To my fellow active/rain Members
Find an I believe that relates to one of your posts
copy that one I believe into your comment
with a link to your post. Nothing else required.
Ive added a few links just to get you going

If you have an I Believe that is not here then add it.

A Birth Certificate shows that we were born

A Death Certificate shows that we died

Pictures show that we lived!

Our Posts are a testiment to who we are and what we believe.

To all

Enjoy

Have a seat . . . Relax . . . And read this slowly.

I Believe...
That just because two people argue,
it doesn't mean they don't love each other.
And just because they don't argue,
it doesn't mean they do love each other.

I Believe...
That we don't have to change friends if
we understand that friends change.

I Believe...
That no matter how good a friend is, they're going to hurt
you every once in a while and you must forgive them for that.

I Believe...
That true friendship continues to grow, even over
the longest distance. Same goes for true love.

I Believe...
That you can do something in an instant
that will give you heartache for life.

I Believe...
That it's taking me a long time
to become the person I want to be.

I Believe...
That you should always leave loved ones with
loving words. It may be the last time you see them.

I Believe...
That you can keep going long after you think you can't.

I Believe...
That we are responsible for what
we do, no matter how we feel.

I Believe...
That either you control your attitude or it controls you.

I Believe...
That heroes are the people who do what has to be done
when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences.

I Believe...
That money is a lousy way of keeping score.

I Believe...
That my best friend and I, can do anything, or nothing and have the best time.

I Believe...
That sometimes the people you expect to kick you
when you're down, will be the ones to help you get back up.

I Believe...
That sometimes when I'm angry I have the right to be angry,
but that doesn't give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe...
That maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you've had
and what you've learned from them and less to do
with how many birthdays you've celebrated.

I Believe...
That it isn't always enough, to be forgiven by others.
sometimes, you have to learn to forgive yourself..

I Believe...
That no matter how bad your heart is broken the world doesn't stop for your grief.

I Believe...
That our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are,
but, we are responsible for who we become.

I Believe...
That you shouldn't be so eager to find
out a secret. It could change your life Forever.

I Believe...
Two people can look at the exact same
thing and see something totally different..

I Believe...
That your life can be changed in a matter of
hours by people who don't even know you.

I Believe...
That even when you think you have no more to give, when
a friend cries out to you - you will find the strength to help.

I Believe...
That credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being.

I Believe...
That the people you care about most in life are taken
from you too soon.

I Believe....
That you should send this to all of the people that you believe in, I just did.

'The happiest of people don't necessarily have the best of everything;
they just make the most of everything.'