Housing started picked up in September due to an increase in multiple starts in the Atlantic region, Quebec and in British Columbia,” said Mathieu Laberge, Deputy Chief Economist at CMHC's Market Analysis Centre. Multiple housing starts are expected to move back towards levels consistent with demographic fundamentals in the near term.
The seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 8.0% to 185,900 units in September. Multiple urban starts were up by 14.2% to 118,000 units while urban single starts decreased by 1.5% in September to 67,900 units.
September's seasonally adjusted annual rate of urban starts increased by 47.0% in the Atlantic region, 32.0% in Quebec and by 18.6% in British Columbia while urban starts decreased by 3.5% in Ontario and by 12.1% in the Prairie region. Rural starts were estimated at a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 20,000 units in September.
Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. came in well above year-ago levels for the third consecutive month in September 2011, and stood on par with some of the strongest September sales figures on record.
Home sales numbered 387 units in September, an increase of 17 per cent over the same month last year. Within the City of Barrie, gains were in line with the overall trend for the region and showed 243 residential sales, up 19 per cent.
The year-to-date average price for all homes sold via the Association's MLS® System in the first nine months of 2011 is now $289,254, up two per cent from last year.
For the City of Barrie alone, the figure is $269,258.
The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® cautions that over a period of time, the use of average price information can be useful in establishing trends, but it does not indicate actual prices in widely divergent areas or account for price differences between geographical areas.
The dollar value of all home sales in September 2011 was $113 million, up eight per cent from last September.
The Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® covers a geographical area that includes the City of Barrie as well as part or all of the surrounding townships, including Springwater, Oro-Medonte, Innisfil, Essa, Bradford-West Gwillimbury and Clearview.
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| Mark Wanzel photo |
There have been a few articles written in The Barrie Examiner in which I have had the pleasure of providing my experience of working with Real Estate Investors. Appreciate the opportunity of giving our "expert" opinion given over 90% of our business is solely working with Investors. ran under the headline, "Investment ideal here, report says." The Real Estate Investment Network (REIN)ranked the Barrie & Orillia area third-best in the province for residential real estate investment, behind only Hamilton and Kichener/Cambridge.
The report took into account such factors as the local economy, job growth, in-migration, and infrastructure. The report's co-author, Melanie Reuter, cited many reasons that make the "Simcoe Shores" area attractive to real estate investors, including expansion of the Royal Victoria Hospital and Georgian College, infrastructure improvements, and the second GO train station.
This confirms what we all knew or at least suspected already - that our area is a great place to live, work, and invest in real estate!
