REAL ESTATE CORNER

By Lynn and John Drewry

 INTRODUCTION

This is the first article of a weekly series on real estate and related topics. We will discuss current and local issues with facts and opinions from real estate experts.  We encourage you to send us your questions and ideas for future articles (john@lynnandjohn.ca).

 

As we begin the New Year, thinking about real estate, we must remember that we have experienced many changes in recent times and real estate is a very dynamic market.  We are all familiar with low interest rates and ‘no down payment’ mortgages which have brought many first time buyers into the market. It is good to understand these forces that drive the market.

 

But there is more to it… Halton Hills is a great place to live.  When we came here from Toronto 14 years ago we thought we had found a little oasis in a huge desert of high density population and traffic. Halton Hills has all the benefits of urban living and working without the stress and inconvenience. Our kids complain that it is too quiet but when they move away they often return with appreciation.

 

Because Halton Hills is attractive to many, we have seen demand for residential housing compounded by people moving here from Brampton, Mississauga and even Toronto. It helped that housing here was less expensive than elsewhere.

 

The abundance of buyers has created increased demand and, of course, increased prices as well. We can now see that prices in HH will tend to equalize with surrounding communities.

 

People who have owned their homes here for 10 years or even less are often amazed to find that their home is worth 60% to 100% more than they paid for it. People want to cash in on this tax free money and buy something  better, bigger or even smaller and put the excess funds into investments.

 

Where or when will this end? If we could foretell that we would be on a boat in some exotic place.  But there is no sign of any dramatic crash or bulge. The experts tell us to look for about 2% increase in prices this year in the GTA. Maybe it will be more in Halton Hills because of the unique attractiveness here.

 

We see another very positive and exciting year ahead.

 

Next Week: SELECTING A REAL ESTATE REPRESENTATIVE

 

Lynn and John are with Johnson Associates Halton Ltd. Lynn is entering her 10^th year in Real Estate and enjoyed a career in corporate sales and marketing before that. John is an Associate Broker and Chartered Accountant (FCA) entering his 4^th year in real estate and enjoyed a career in executive management, sales and marketing, business brokerage and financing.