Click HERE to read the entire October, 2014 newsletter, including graphs and Camrose rental and building stats
Singing the praises of realtors
Most of us have probably seen the
commercial in which the 4-man SWAT team bursts into the house, thinking it was
Cartel occupying it, but they find only Mr. & Mrs. Lewis. “Didn’t your realtor tell you about this
place?” the SWAT captain asks. “We
didn’t use a realtor,” Mr. Lewis answers.
“Oooh,” the whole SWAT team responds in a combination of pity
and incredulity, the message being that realtors can be a critical part of the
home buying and selling process.
I’ve always known this, and also always
believed that professional work in general should best be left to the
professionals, but my experiences over the last couple of months have deeply
solidified my view of just how valuable realtors can be. Now, those of you who read this newsletter
regularly would recall a recent piece I did on why we are happy renting at
present. You would therefore be
surprised to hear that, as of today, I actually own two residential
properties: my late father’s house in
Winnipeg that is just in the process of selling and an investment/vacation
property in New Brunswick that my business just bought. I know -- it’s ironic that we own both of
these but still enjoy renting our own home!
My point in telling readers this
is that both of these transactions have gone exceptionally well and that is
only because of the outstanding service the respective realtors (and lawyers –
yes lawyers, as well as several other
wonderful professionals) provided for each of the two properties. The sale in Winnipeg was interesting because
the market for modest bungalows in the north part of town there has been
through the roof, with properties regularly selling well in excess of
list. In fact, the rules were modified
in Manitoba to allow realtors to accept multiple offers and open them all at
the same time so that the best one could be accepted. My realtor there, Lou Furlan, explained all this to me, set the list price just right
so that it would attract interest from both above and below that price point,
and prepared as good a listing description as I’ve ever seen. Being September, the multiple offers didn’t
come (as they might have in spring), but the house sold at just under list in a
matter of six days, so what more could you ask for? Lou stayed in touch with me throughout the
whole process and was worth every penny of the commission charged, as there’s
no way I could have navigated through a market in another province without that
kind of help.
Then there was Lise Thibodeau in New Brunswick. Although she is associated with an office in
Moncton, she serves many of the Acadian communities along NB’s beautiful eastern
shore. She was the listing realtor for
the property we were considering in Pointe Sapin, NB, so we went directly to
her to view it and, eventually, to make an offer. She was the consummate professional and
handled her dual agency role with the utmost of care and respect for both the
vendor and us. The amount of additional
information she provided (including outstanding referrals for water testing,
insurance, home inspection, and legal services, to name just a few) was so
above and beyond the call of duty, it’s hard to describe, and it’s not like
this is a multi-million dollar property but we felt that she treated us just
the same regardless. In the same way
that Lou was a God-send in Winnipeg, Lise was all that in New Brunswick. We simply couldn’t have asked for more.
We in Camrose and area are
blessed to have all sorts of good realtors in our midst, each one bringing
something a little different to the table and most exhibiting the standard of
care and professionalism that Lou and Lise exemplify. Today, I salute each of you and thank you for
the hard work you do on behalf of your clients.
If it’s anything like what I experienced, you, too, earn every penny you
make. I’ve seen first-hand what a good
realtor can do to help and I agree with the commercial: working with a professional makes all the
difference in the world.
The
Camrose Housing Market in Q3 2014
If you were expecting a slowdown in Q3 2014, you’ll have to wait for a
while yet. Each quarter in 2014
seems to want to out-do the last and, while there was some slowing in
September, the volume for Q3 was the 4th-highest on record (112
sales) among all quarters
that I’ve tracked via MLS and office records since 2003 and was the highest Q3 ever during that time (the
next-highest was Q3 2008, with 105 sales).
Other highlights of Q3 2014:
· the 2nd-highest
mean (average) price for any quarter ever at $299,590, 2nd only
to Q2 2014 at $309,639
· the highest
rolling 12-month mean price ever (breaking the record set last quarter): $290,895, which represents an increase of
1.9% over the last quarter ($285,442), an increase of 6.5% vs. Q3 2013, and an
increase of 4.7% since the beginning of 2014 (note that the rolling average is
a better indicator of what the market is doing over the long term than is the
quarter-by-quarter mean price)
· the 2nd-highest
median price ever: $288,250 (2nd
only to last quarter at $292,500), which represents a 12.6% increase vs. Q3
2013
· In Camrose, there have been 50 sales of over $400,000 during the past 12 months vs. 44 sales
during the 12 months ending on June 30, 2014, which suggests continued
confidence in the economy by those with means
Overall,
the gradual upward trend continues, As this is
written, there are 114 residential properties on the market in Camrose via MLS
(on the Central Alberta board and the Edmonton board combined), excluding
vacant land (vs. 146 at the beginning of July).
If we consider this relative to the 112 sales that occurred in Q3 2014, supply
and demand appear to be generally still balance. If so, we should expect a levelling over the
next while, particularly as we head into what is usually a slower time of year.
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