Warren Strong

We are holding another of our interactive Buying A Home 101 seminars.

November 17th, 7:00pm
Cherryhill Library
Cherryhill Mall 301 Oxford St W, London

With a complete team of professionals, the home buying process from the early stages of decision making through to taking possession of your new home will be discussed. Bring your questions for realtors, mortgage specialists, lawyers and home inspectors.

Feedback from previous seminars has been excellent.
See the results here

If you or someone you know would like to attend, registration is easy;
visit BuyingaHome101.ca or call us at 519-438-2222.
Sincerely,
Patricia Howard & Warren Strong
Sales Representatives
Sutton Group-Preferred Realty Inc. Brokerage Independently Owned & Operated

The first half of 2009 is over already! The real estate market, like most markets has been interesting. Experts can't agree if we have seen the worst or the worst is yet to come. One positive indicator is that sales activity has picked up this past quarter.
White Oaks home prices in April through June 2009 look remarkably similar to prices for the same period in 2007.. At first glance that may sound bad, but 2007 was a pretty good year

For the full report in PDF format. Download here
For all your London, Ontario real estate information, visit www.LondonHomesAndCondos.com

Thinking of Buying a Home?
London Home Buyer's Seminar.
Wednesday March 4th, 2009
7:00PM
Westmount Library
3200 Wonderland Rd. S, London

This is an interactive event; please bring your questions.
Professionals available for you are:
Realtor, Mortgage Specialist, Lawyer, Home Inspector

Donations to the Women's Community House are being collected;
Paper products, pasta and dish soap are needed

The last few months have seen very few (if any) positive real estate reports in the media.It has been said that “sex sells, baby”, well unfortunately so does doom and gloom. It must. It’s in the news everyday!

• 2008 was a good year overall, unfortunately it followed a record year in 2007.
• 8,356 homes sold through the MLS system.
• In December there were 3,133 listings compared to 2,241 listings a year earlier. That a 50% increase!
• " selection of home styles and location has been an issue for the last six or seven years. Now the buyers have a lot more choice.” Sellers take note; there is a lot more competition now than the previous year.
  
  

Summary of White Oaks House Sales
	Under 25 Yrs Old		25 Yrs and Older
	Sales	Avg. Sale Price		Sales	Avg. Sale Price
2007	59	$208,592		124	$169,207
2008	54	$202,549		100	$172,384
Change	-5	-$6,043		-24	$3,177
Change%	-8.5%	-2.9%		-19.4%	1.9%

Summary of White Oaks Bungalows and Ranches
	Under 25 Yrs Old		25 Yrs and Older
	Sales	Avg. Sale Price		Sales	Avg. Sale Price
2007	10	$196,700		45	$173,040
2008	9	$198,694		34	$178,258
Change	-1	$1,994		-11	$5,218
Change%	-10.0%	1.0%		-24.4%	3.0%
Summary of White Oaks Two Storey Homes
	Under 25 Yrs Old		25 Yrs and Older
	Sales	Avg. Sale Price		Sales	Avg. Sale Price
2007	11	$228,345		7	$184,486
2008	16	$215,241		5	$188,500
Change	5	-$13,104		-2	$4,014
Change%	45.5%	-5.7%		-28.6%	2.2%
Summary of White Oaks Split Level Homes
	Under 25 Yrs Old		25 Yrs and Older
	Sales	Avg. Sale Price		Sales	Avg. Sale Price
2007	27	$223,859		39	$179,251
2008	16	$224,937		28	$190,148
Change	-11	$1,078		-11	$10,897
Change%	-40.7%	0.5%		-28.2%	6.1%
Summary of White Oaks Semi Detached Homes
	Under 25 Yrs Old		25 Yrs and Older
	Sales	Avg. Sale Price		Sales	Avg. Sale Price
2007	11	$162,173		33	$148,870
2008	13	$161,669		33	$148,818
Change	2	-$504		0	-$52
Change%	18.2%	-0.3%		0.0%	0.0%

• It is no longer a seller’s market. Buyers have plenty of selection and will not feel the need to act quickly as they have in the past.
• There will be plenty of competition. Will your house be “listed” or will it be “for sale”? There’s a difference, pricing based on wishful thinking may get you listed but not likely sold.
• Houses will take longer on average to sell.
• Interest rates are still very low. Housing in London is affordable.
  
  
  
• And, if you are selling and buying, the seller of the house you are interested in is in the same market. If your price is down, theirs likely is too.
  
  

The London- St.Thomas Association of Realtors have recently reported that sales volume in October of 2008 was down 15% compared to October 2007. Year to date the sale volume is down 7.9% and average house price is up approximately 5%. For those currently living in White Oaks, I thought they might find the following stats interesting. White Oaks subdivision was built in several phases but essentially it can be looked as two sections. Those homes 25 years or more old and those less than 25 years old.

Summary of White Oaks Semi Detached Homes
	2007						2008 to date
	Sales		Avg Sale Price				Sales		Avg Sale Price		Change%
Under 25 Yrs Old	11		$162,173				13		$161,669		-0.3%
25 Yrs and Older	33		$148,870				32		$148,938		0.0%
Summary of White Oaks Split Level Homes
	2007				2008 to date
	Sales	Avg Sale Price			Sales			Avg Sale Price		Change%
Under 25 Yrs Old	27	$223,859			15			$224,600		0.3%
25 Yrs and Older	39	$179,251			28			$190,148		6.1%

Summary of White Oaks Two Storey Homes
	2007						2008 to date
	Sales		Avg Sale Price				Sales		Avg Sale Price		Change%
Under 25 Yrs Old	11		$228,345				14		$215,282		-5.7%
25 Yrs and Older	7		$184,486				4		$182,875		-0.9%
Summary of White Oaks Bungalows and Ranches
	2007				2008 to date
	Sales	Avg Sale Price			Sales			Avg Sale Price		Change%
Under 25 Yrs Old	10	$196,700			8			$203,906		3.7%
25 Yrs and Older	45	$173,040			33			$178,508		3.2%