Pelham UP, UP, UP…Niagara DOWN
It’s been a banner Spring for home sales in Pelham. Year-to-date residential transactions are full steam 
ahead of last year’s level and returning to the pre-recession levels experienced prior to 2008.
According to the MLS statistics of the Niagara Association of Realtors there have been 80 residential sales reported in Pelham so far this year. Last year’s tally during the same time period was 62 units with 51 being the grand total recorded between January and April in 2011. Current results compare more favourably with the peak three-year average of 83.6 sales recorded during January-April from 2005 to 2007.
Our local sales surge contrasts significantly with Niagara regional market activity. Year-to-date sales have dropped 8.5% across Niagara with 2,182 transactions reported during the first four months of this year compared to 2386 last year.
Despite this slowdown in overall volume, homes sales happened an average of 5 days faster than last year with the average number of days on the market in Niagara now at 62 days compared to 67 last year.
The average number of days it takes to sell a home in Pelham is higher than the regional average. The 12 month average for days on the market for Pelham transactions has remained consistently at the 80 day level for the past two years.
Longer market times are reflective of the higher average price levels in our local community. The Pelham12 month average price as of April 30th, 2013 stands at $331,930 up 1.659% from $326,734 recorded at the month end of April 2012. The current Niagara Regional 12 month average price of $248,360 is 3.9% higher than last April’s figure of $239,039.
Next door in the Rose City year-to-date average price statistics reflect similar increases. The April 12-Month average price of $189,173 represents a rise of 3.8% over last year’s figure of $182,294. The overall sales volume in Welland declined 14.3%, with to a total of 692 units sold so far this year compared to 807 between January and April 2012.
This article is part of our Series of “Real Estate View” Columns published in the Pelham News.
We welcome the opportunity to become your Realtors of choice in the Welland, Pelham (Fonthill) and surrounding area. Our full service profile is outlined on our business website:www.NiagaraRealtySource.com.
As your Niagara Realty Source we are pleased to provide you with expert market advice and start to finish transaction management support connecting you with our local community network.
We are proud co-founders of the www.mypelham.com community website – when you are considering a move to the Pelham area be sure to make MyPelham.com your first stop for local information!
All the Best,
John & Cathy
Niagara Average House Price is UP 3.6%
The Spring Market sales spree in Pelham continues while overall, total sales in the Niagara Region lag behind last year.
During the First Quarter of 2013 Pelham home sales were 24% ahead of the level achieved during the same period in 2012. First Quarter sales across Niagara were down 8.5% compared to 2012 results.
According to the MLS statistics of the Niagara Association of Realtors there were 51 unit sales in Pelham during the first three months of 2013 while last year the tally was 41. The current level of sales in Pelham is well ahead of the 2007-2012 Six Year average of 40 unit sales in the First Quarter.
Niagara-wide there were 1,317 residential sales reported during the First Quarter this year compared to a total of 1,440 in the first three months of 2012.
So far this year, the sales that happened in Pelham sold much quicker than last year with an average market time of 74 days compared to last year’s First Quarter average of 89 days.
Interestingly the average number of days on the market for homes is lower across all of Niagara. Despite the fact that there have been fewer sales overall those that sell are changing hands faster. The average number of days on the market in Niagara during the First Quarter was 66 days down from 74 days recorded in the First Quarter of 2012.
On March 15th, 2013, the Canadian Real Estate Association lowered its forecast for National sales activity to a prediction of 441,500 units in 2013. This represents a 2.9 per cent decline from the total of 454,573 sales recorded in 2012, and stands five per cent below the 10-year average (2003 – 2012).
Our Niagara housing market remains firmly in balanced territory as the number of new listings keeps trending down in tandem with a slowdown in demand. The low inventory level has effectively kept the market in check and continues to spur on average price growth.
As of the end of March 2013 the 12 month average price in Niagara stood at $242,756 - up 3.6% from $234,246 posted in March 2012.
This article is part of our Series of “Real Estate View” Columns published in the Pelham News.
We welcome the opportunity to become your Realtors of choice in the Welland, Pelham (Fonthill) and surrounding area. Our full service profile is outlined on our business website:www.NiagaraRealtySource.com.
As your Niagara Realty Source we are pleased to provide you with expert market advice and start to finish transaction management support connecting you with our local community network.
We are proud co-founders of the www.mypelham.com community website – when you are considering a move to the Pelham area be sure to make MyPelham.com your first stop for local information!
All the Best, John & Cathy
Spring Market Arrives Early in Pelham
Residential home sales in Pelham are off to a brisk start this year. Unit sales in January and February were up 50% above last year’s level.
According to the MLS statistics of the Niagara Association of Realtors there were 24 residential sales reported in Pelham during January and February of this year compared to the same months in 2012. The average days on the market for the homes that sold shifted to 55 days a significantly faster pace than the average of 91 days a year ago.
Sales of higher end inventory are once again on the rise skewing our local monthly average sale price to a much higher level than recorded last year. At $326,942, the average sale price of the homes that sold during January and February increased a whopping 22% over the average sale price of $268,479 reported during the same months in 2012.
The February 12-month average price in Pelham stands at $325,227 up 1.2% over last year’s figure of $ $321,294.
Our local Pelham market activity outpaced Niagara. As of the end of February the region wide sales total of 745 units – reflecting an 11% drop from last year’s level of 839 transactions. Niagara’s 12-month average price is still on the rise. Currently at $242,233 the 12-month average price in Niagara represents a gain of 3.6% over last February’s tally of $233,875.
Year-to-date results in our neighbouring City of Welland are trailing 2012 activity levels by 22% with 79 homes sold so far this year compared to 105 last year. The Rose City’s 12-month average price of $185,024 is up marginally from the total of $183,496 recorded in February 2012.
Although the overall sales volume across the Region is lagging behind last year, listing inventory levels are also trending down. The net effect of reduced supply is maintaining a healthy level of steady price growth in our local housing market.
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This article is part of our Series of “Real Estate View” Columns published in the Pelham News.
As your Niagara Realty Source, Team Berkhout Bosse is pleased to provide you with expert market advice and start to finish transaction management support connecting you with our local community network. We invite you to visit our website www.NiagaraRealtySource.com where you can learn more about the professional marketing and property search services that we provide.
What’s Happening in Niagara Housing Market?
The Niagara real estate market continues to steer a steady course. Total unit sales in 2012 across all nine local communities served by the Niagara Association of REALTORS® crept up marginally over last year’s results. With 5704 single family sales reported this year compared to the 5664 recorded in 2011 unit sales increased 0.7%.
Interesting these figures stand in stark contrast to recent National media pronunciations of “The Great Real Estate Crash of 2013”. While the pundits have been writing similar attention catching headlines regularly for the past few years we, Realtors have been working away doing business as usual here in Niagara.
According to the MLS® sales reports of the Niagara Association of REALTORS® the 12 Month Average Price in Niagara reached $232,518 in December 2012 – up 2.9% over the 2011 December Year-to-Date figure of $226,022.
When you consider that the December 2012 Average Sale Price in the Greater Toronto Area stood at $497,298 it is easy to see that there is an affordability factor fuelling our local market. Niagara is an extremely attractive market especially to Zoomers approaching retirement age and increasingly also to telecommuters who can function quite effectively from their home-based satellite offices.
Across Niagara, the highest unit sales increases were reported in Niagara-on-the-Lake (+15.3%); Pelham (+7.14%) and Thorold (+3.7%). On the other side of that coin, there were three Niagara communities that experienced a decline in annual unit sales: Welland (-5.4%); Lincoln (-5.2%) and St. Catharines (-0.64%)
Niagara-on-the Lake continues to be Niagara’s highest price neighbourhood reporting a 12 month Average Price of $437, 153. Pelham is in 2nd place at $319,158 with Lincoln running a close 3rd at $317,163 due to a whopping annual price increase of 5.8%.
Any guesses what Niagara community experienced the largest average price increase during 2012? How many of you picked our gem of a city on Niagara’s South Coast – yes, indeed the price growth leader is Port Colborne reporting an increase of 6.3% climbing from $193,966 in 2011 to $206,297 in 2012.
This article is part of our Series of “Real Estate View” Columns published every 2nd week in the Pelham News.
As your Niagara Realty Source, Team Berkhout Bosse is pleased to provide you with expert market advice and start to finish transaction management support connecting you with our local community network. We invite you to visit our website www.NiagaraRealtySource.com where you can learn more about the professional marketing and property search services that we provide.
Local Market ‘Steady as She Goes’
The Pelham real estate market demonstrated remarkable resilience in 2012— with home sales up 6.6%.
Total residential sales in Pelham reached 209 units compared to the total of 196 reported last year. Interestingly enough, last year’s total is the exact same level as recorded in 2009 and 2010. With 403 new listings posted in 2012, our local sales-to-new-listing ratio of 51.9% is solidly in the middle of the balanced territory range of 40% to 60%.
Average prices, however, are on the decline. The 12 month average price as at December 31, 2012 stood at $320,685 – 1.7% below the 2011 figure of $326,362.
Market trends in our local area are reflecting the demographic housing shift that is occurring across Canada. Now, with baby boomers becoming such a disproportionate part of the population, there is a shift towards lower priced condos and townhomes representing a larger share of the housing mix.
In 2012, multi-family residential sales represented a 12% share of the market compared to 10% in 2011 – expect this trend to continue. Lower demand for larger, 2 storey family homes will continue to place strain on resale values in this segment.
This past month, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) lowered its 2013 national forecast for home sales activity via the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) Systems of Canadian real estate Boards and Associations. CREA projects that national sales activity will recede by two per cent in the coming year.
The RE/MAX 2012 Housing Market Outlook released in December 2012 suggests that stability will be the characteristic of Canadian real estate in the new year, with sales above or on par with 2012 levels in the majority of market areas.
One thing is for sure, the days of rapidly rising average annual prices are expected to become a distant memory.
This article is part of our Realty View Column published in the Pelham News . You may read past columns at here on our Niagara Realty Source BLOG 
www.NiagaraRealtySourceReport.com
OREA renews call for grow-op registry | REM | Real Estate Magazine
Ninety-six per cent of Ottawa residents agree they want to know if the home they’re planning on purchasing was formerly used as a marijuana grow-op (MGO) or clandestine drug lab, according to a study by Ipsos Reid for the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA).
The poll found that almost one in four (24 per cent) of Ottawans report seeing or knowing of homes in their neighbourhood that have been used as MGOs or drug labs.
“The prevalence of these homes in Ottawa is quite frankly, alarming,” says Pat Verge, an Ottawa area Realtor and member of OREA’s Board of Directors. “Homes used as grow ops and/or clandestine labs pose significant health and safety risks to individuals, families, and communities all over the province.”
Locally, the City of Ottawa approved a recent bylaw regarding the prohibition, inspection and remediation of former marijuana grow-ops. The bylaw mandates the registration of work orders on the title of a property used as a former grow op. The bylaw would allow home buyers to find out if the property was a former MGO by doing a title search before they complete the purchase.
Verge says: “Eighty eight per cent of Ontarians support the creation of a province-wide registry of former MGOs and clandestine labs. As consumers they have the right to know anything and everything about the home that they are planning on purchasing – especially when not knowing could put themselves and their family at serious risk.”
Exposure to mould and toxins associated with MGOs and clandestine drug labs can cause serious health problems, including allergic (immunological) reactions, toxic effects and infection. Toronto Public Health says that MGOs are distinct from typical types of premises contaminated with mould in that they have been used for criminal activities that may have resulted in the creation of environmental hazards, as well as electrical and structural hazards. The potential presence of known hazardous, toxic and flammable substances associated with clandestine labs presents an immediate and continuing risk to anyone exposed to these substances, says Toronto Public Health.
Does the NRP have a publicly posted Grow Op Registry? Please share the link here with me.
