Gary Moran's Kingston Realty Team OCTOBER 2008 Newsletter

Hi everyone,

Well, we are certainly living through some interesting times.  For most people, the current world economic upheaval will have little or no effect.  For some, it will have a dramatic effect, for others, it will have some effect, and as we all know, some will benefit.

I think we would be fooling ourselves if we said the current situation would have no effect on the real estate market, because I think it will, but I believe that it will affect some places or areas much more than others.

Let's look at our Kingston area market.  We do not have a large manufacturing sector here, and therefore will not feel a great deal of the likely slow down in that segment of our economy.

We do have a large presence of military who will continue to be posted in and out.  We can add federal prison guards to that list.  In addition, many individuals come and go to Queen's University and Kingston General Hospital and as we have mentioned before, we are one of the top destinations in Canada for retirees.

What does all that tell us?  Well, I think it tells us that these sectors of our market will remain much the same as they have been over the past years.

What else do we have happening here?  Well, a couple of new hotels under construction, hundreds of millions of dollars being spent at Hotel Dieu Hospital, at Queen's University, at Kingston General Hospital, on Wolfe Island, at Royal Military College and on Canadian Forces Base Kingston and the new development on Division Street - just to mention a few.  I don't have a total of expenditures, but it is an extremely large number.  All of these projects and many more not mentioned will help keep our local economy viable.

In the end I believe we will see somewhat slower sales for the next 6 to 12 months as some discretionary buyers sit on the sidelines waiting for a big price correction in the housing market.  I am still of the belief that our prices in the Kingston area will remain relatively stable.  We did not have the large price run-ups that some markets had and therefore don't need the market correction that those markets need.

Remember as well that our mortgage market in Canada is vastly different than it was in the United States.  We have stricter controls and our mortgage market is sound.  We will not see the kind of fiasco that has rocked the U. S. real estate market.

In short in Kingston, we have a diverse economy with many large projects underway and strong employment with new companies moving in and others hiring.  We will see some slow down, but we are well placed to ride out the next year or so, while confidence returns to the world money and stock markets.  Next year at this time we will see how my predictions work out.

Stats Year to Date (September 30, 2008)

Well, what has been happening in our real estate market so far this year, as of the end of September?  The number of transactions for September was very strong 314 this year compared to 255 in 2007.  The number of transactions year-to-date are only 48 behind the average number of transactions year-to-date for the past three years or only slightly down by 1.6%. Average number of transactions from January to September 2005 to 2007 inclusive was 3076, this year 3028, I would say that is not a significant drop in the number of transactions.  Our average price this year so far compared to last year's averages have increased for condos 4.2%, bungalows 4.5% and 2-storeys 5.5%.  So far my January 08 predictions are holding true - a relatively stable market with a small but stable price increase.

Inventory levels remain high, but have dropped to 20% above last year's September level, down from almost 26% last month.

Days on the market remained higher than last year - due in most part to increased inventory.

 From what I have been seeing on our daily Realtor hot sheet, sales so far this month seem to be on par with October 2007 - we'll have a better picture, of course, when the October statistics are released on November 7, 2008.

For those considering selling their home, call my office at 613-389-4052 to arrange for a full presentation of all the marketing services we provide - just one example "The Talking House." has been getting our listings a lot of attention.  Our multifaceted marketing program is designed to gain the greatest exposure of your property in the marketplace - exposure to qualified buyers is the key to selling quickly and for top dollar - call us today!

If anyone has any questions about our unique VIP Buyer Profile Service please give me a call at my home office 613-389-4052, for those at a distance call me toll free direct at 1-866-393-5762. This hassle free service could save you thousands!
 
If anyone would like to receive our special Video entitled "What you need to know before selling your home" simply call 613-389-4052 and ask for the free video to be sent to you. It could make you thousands!

Have a Great Day!

Regards,

Gary Moran, M.Sc.

KingstonRealtyTeam

sutton group-masters realty inc., Brokerage

Independently Owned and Operated