First quarter of 2015 in the books for WIDREB

This year's sales numbers easily exceed first 3 months of 2014

By Mark Schadenberg

In real estate, our daily bulletin which notes all the new listings, price changes, conditional sales and of course the sold homes, is often referred to as the Hot Sheet. Well, in the first three months of 2015, it has been a hot sheet as sales in the Woodstock-Ingersoll District Real Estate Board (WIDREB) trading area are out-pacing the 2014 numbers by a wide margin.

It's been stated here before that the first quarter of 2014 was below average for reported sales, but 2015 is an impressive bounce back. We have endured back-to-back harsh winters, but in 2015 the demand for homes was strong, whereas the 2014 market started out cold.

Here are the month-by-month numbers for this year versus last year.

                       2015          2014

January             81             44

February           89             68

March             116             92

Total               286            204

The current year also surpasses 2013 by a 286-272 margin.

The on-going low interest rates are just one reason why this year has topped 2014. 

In my blog www.markroyallepage.blogspot.com I have a story about the Meridian Credit Union and its 18-month interest rate of a microscopic 1.49%. 

This site also includes update pertaining to CMHC fees for high ratio mortgages for less than 10% down as insurance fees will be raised to 3.60% from 3.15, effective June 1. This CMHC decision, which also includes its counterpart Genworth, is an indicator that anyone in the market should act fast.