Marg Scheben-Edey - Collingwood, Ontario

Although it's now February, people are still asking about prices in our various neighbourhoods in the Georgian Triangle. So, in the spirit of wrapping up the 2008 statistics, here is a chart showing the change in the average sale prices between 2007 and 2008 by area:

Please do remember that average sale prices can be skewed significantly by a few really high or low sales so they are not necessarily a fair representation of prices however, they do show the general trends by area.

Interestingly but not surprisingly, both Collingwood and Wasaga Beach registered an increase in values; even when I tried eliminating sales under $100,000 and over $1 million. More rural areas such as Grey Highlands and Clearview showed the greatest declines.

Right now, we sure are seeing buyers being very reluctant to jump in despite great prices and mortgage rates. Consumer confidence is not high but I have noticed a real uptick in showing activity of late.

We interrupt his blog to bring you a little shameless self-promotion.

First, let us say that we love most of our fellow REALTORS® around here. They are a good bunch. But this is not about them (sorry guys and gals).

For a few years now, we've been working hard to keep you in-the-know about everything to do with Collingwood and Blue Mountain real estate or otherwise. We've gone on ad nauseam about why you should use a REALTOR®.

Now, we present to you more reasons why you should use us, Marg and Chris, as your REALTORS® of choice in the Collingwood and Blue Mountain area.

1. Professionally speaking, we have more than 35 years of real estate business experience under our stylish, but tasteful belts.

2. We're not one-trick ponies: we've both enjoyed other careers in social work, banking, exporting, manufacturing, investments, administration and health.

3. We do our homework: we read, we listen, we absorb, we go to class, we research and we share. Oh, and we save everything!

4. We've been through recessions, downturns, being laid off or having quit; been turned down, and we've been approved; we've seen success, and worried about failure, invested and lost, and invested and won!

5. We google, oodle, twitter, blog, text, feed and kijiji. Can you digg it?

6. We're chatty in many languages: English, German, a little French, a little Spanish, pig-Latin and lots of Real-Estate-Lingo are spoken in our office.

7. We've lived to tell the tale... between us, we've lived through marriage, separation, divorce, being single; being a Mom, a Dad, a sister, an aunt and a cousin, being gifted, acting stupid; being jilted, being broke, sending kids to college and university; losing parents and close family members, losing on the stock market, having accidents in cars and in our pants, being embarrassed and being proud, yelled too much, yelled too little, praised when we shouldn't have, gained weight, lost weight, survived heart attacks and breast surgery and loved with all of our hearts (which are located deep inside our bodies.)

What we're trying to say is, we've been through a lot between the two of us, so we can commiserate, empathize, sympathize and help, whenever you need our advice or expertise. No matter what the event, it's very likely that we've been there too, so you don't have to feel alone when you're dealing with life's ups and downs.

Nuff said.

When it’s time to buy or sell real estate in the Collingwood, Blue Mountain or Georgian Triangle area, contact Marg, an experienced and competent Broker who’s ready whenever you are!

We all know by now that Tuesday (January 27th, 2009) was budget day here in Canada. As expected, there are proposed initiatives to stimulate the housing industry.  That's a pretty good idea if you ask me. 

According to a study conducted by the Altus Group for the Canadian Real Estate Association,  every residential real estate transaction in Canada generates over $32,000 in ancillary consumer spending and, creates almost 95,000 full-time direct jobs as a result of that activity.

These numbers in themselves make real estate a strong economic driver in Canada. The budget recognizes that and, in a nutshell, here is a summary of the incentives proposed for home owners and home buyers:

1.  First-Time Home Buyers' Tax Credit
Assisting first-time home buyers with tax relief of up to $750.00 for the costs associated with the purchase of a home such as legal fees, disbursements and land transfer taxes.

2.  Increasing Withdrawal Limits Under the Home Buyers' Plan
Raising the limit on withdrawals for first time home buyers from $20,000 to $25,000.  With the $5,000 increase to the withdrawal limit, two first-time home buyers purchasing a home jointly (e.g. a married or common-law couple) with sufficient RRSP funds in each of their names may now together withdraw up to $50,000 from their RRSP funds toward the purchase of a home in Canada.   Unlike regular RRSP withdrawals, the HBP withdrawals are not included in income when withdrawn.  Amounts withdrawn under the HBP must be repaid over a 15-year period, starting the second year following the year of the withdrawal, or included in the individual's income if not repaid.

3.  Expanding the ecoEnergy Retrofit Program  Although not a new program, this measure provides an additional $300 million over two years allowing more homes to qualify.  (Don't forget to look at it together with the Ontario Provincal Plan for additional rebates!)

4. Home Renovation Tax Credit
This is the one causing all the excitement today.  This is a temporary program that will provide a 15-per-cent income tax credit on eligible home renovation expenditures for work performed, or goods acquired, after January 27, 2009 and before February 1, 2010.  The credit may be claimed for the 2009 taxation year on the portion of eligible expenditures exceeding $1,000, but not more than $10,000, and will provide up to $1,350 in tax relief.

I would add that, in my opinion, the 2 billion dollars being set aside for municpalities is also important to homeowners as it will have a direct impact on property taxes.  In my town of Collingwood for example, the local budget decision was deferred this week pending the budget to see what infrastructure projects (sewers?) might qualify.

If you were selling or renting out your property, would you agree to provide the potential buyer or tenant with a report describing the energy efficiency of your property? What would the results of such a report show?

In October 2008, the Ontario legislature passed the second reading of Bill 101 known as the Home Energy Rating Act. If approved, this new act will require that owners of detached, semi-detached homes and units in multi-unit, low-rise buildings, who enter into an Agreement of Purchase and Sale on or after January 1, 2011 or into a tenancy agreement on or after January 1, 2012, will need to provide a Home Energy Rating Report of the building to a prospective buyer or tenant. Read that again because chances are, it will affect YOU at some point.

The new act proposes that a Home Energy Report will be required that evaluates the energy efficiency of a building when it is sold or rented.

In December, Green Saver announced that it has joined forces with the Ontario Association of Home Inspectors to offer EcoEnergy home audits across Ontario with training of inspectors to commence this month.

If you anticipate selling a residential property any time after the end of 2010 or, of renting it out after the end of 2011, now might be a good time to develop a plan for improving the energy efficiency of your property. Up to $10,000 in grants are available to homeowners for retrofits done as shown in this chart of possible rebates available. You can start with an Energy Audit which typically costs about $300.00 although right now the Ontario provincial government will automatically rebate you with $150.00. Locally in the Collingwood area, the Environment Network has excellent information on their website outlining the steps you should take and explaining the process in general.

Really think about this. While it seems to be getting very little notice so far, I suspect this will become a very big topic over the next couple of years. You have a chance to help your home, your pocketbook, the environment and a successful future sale by getting started now.

When it’s time to buy or sell real estate in the Collingwood, Blue Mountain or Georgian Triangle area, contact Marg, an experienced and competent Broker who’s ready whenever you are!

I know that statistics and charts can be a bit mind numbing. On the other hand, they are the story that we need to know telling us where we've been and where we might be going.

I like to watch certain stats in particular: the number of new listings, the number of sales, the number of price reductions but most of all, the sales to listing ratio. That is perhaps one of the better indicators of what is going on in the market.

Let me explain this little ratio thing. It's calculated by dividing the number of sales by the number of listings. It gives us a snapshot of what percentage of the listings on the market are selling. We look at them both on a monthly (or weekly) basis and also year-to-date. Although there are divergent opinions, generally speaking, a sales-to-listing ratio of over 50% suggests that it is a SELLERS market. Under 40% is a BUYERS market and in between, is considered to be a BALANCED market.

Right now, the sales to listing ratio is under 30% as one may expect. That means less than 30% of properties on the market are selling. It's clearly a BUYERS market right now.

To simplify this ratio study, I thought it might be a good time to have a pretty chart so you don't have to read and analyze the stats:

Watch the black trend lines. When they start moving toward each other, that means the market is showing signs of improvement. Of course, if they move apart, its not such a good thing if you are trying to sell.

So for all you analytical types out there, I feel your need! Hope this fills some brain space.