BUYING/SELLING: A number of Realtors are now writing newsletters and articles full of statistics which many of you will have already seen. Upon request, we are happy to provide any stat’s that might interest you including a comprehensive analysis by our Board’s President & Past President. Suffice to say that adverse market conditions exist but adverse markets bring huge opportunity, and 1194 re-sale properties traded hands in ‘08! We did an analysis in mid-December for a buyer client of ours - facts showed that in The Blue Mountains in the last 4 months, detached homes have sold from 16% to 34% UNDER their original asking price. Up until mid-’08, our average was 95% of asking price. The statistic that concerns us the most is the number of listings expiring without selling, a clear indication that too many Sellers are still pricing their properties with unreasonable expectations. However, it’s evident by the sale value percentages that opportune buyers are toughing that out and grabbing the brass ring with offers that are, finally, accepted!

Some brief stat’s that we always find of interest:

COLLINGWOOD: the 4 high sales of the year were two 3 bdrm waterview homes for $650K & $672K respectively, a home in The Forest on 1.5 acres for $850K, and a home in Evergreen for $870K. All sold prior to Sept. 7/08 but the values don’t vary much from the high sales of $2007. The low sales were small building lots from $35K to $84,500 and a one-bdrm in-town condo for $92,900. Average price for a re-sale residence in Collingwood is now $257,559 (up from $243,385 for ’07).

THE BLUE MOUNTAINS: the 2 highest sales were custom homes, one in Monterra and one in Alta. Both asked over $2M and both sold for around $1.8M. Indeed, they were the overall high sales of the Georgian Triangle. The low sales were a building lot in Clarksburg for $56,500 and a studio condo at Mountain Springs Resort for $70K. Average price for a re-sale residence in TBM is now $444,201 (down from $460,714 for ’07). Best months to sell a property in either municipality were May, June, July, & August.

RENTALS: The fabulous ski conditions of ’07-’08 prompted lots of early bookings for this winter but as the cable news networks outdid themselves with economic doom & gloom, renters got spooked and bookings slowed to a crawl. Many renters waited until last minute to avail themselves of the deep discounts of "left-over" properties. Properties that did not sell all became rental inventory and renters had more choice, and therefore lower rental rates, than ever before in our 16 years experience. Our prediction is that rental homeowners, like Sellers, will have to lower their expectations in order to compete for rental dollars. Summer renters are already calling and will have a ton of choice as well, but for homeowners who aren’t too greedy, we predict a good summer season as renters take advantage of the ease and affordability of vacationing just a few hours drive from home.

THE FUTURE: Only good news here! David Foot was here again, and again promoting his vision of the future based on demographics. He identified the Collingwood/Blue Mountains area as typical of where the population is heading, which might explain why our officials are preparing for a population explosion over the next 12 years.

Local VERY good news: finally a shuttle bus from Pine St., Collingwood to and from Blue Mountain! Run by Snowbound 705-445-5267

and from "JUROCK'S Facts By Email - Jan 28-Feb. 4, 2009" - 1. US resale housing was up by 6.5% (a decline of 3.4% was expected!). Resale homes are really the numbers to watch. Clearly new home construction will always be down. I mean: Who will build if soo much is still for sale? The general press however only talked about housing declines. 2. Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says the chances of dangerous deflation gripping the Canadian economy are minimal, mainly because the central bank still has lots of leeway to prevent it. Consumer confidence in Canada rebounded slightly in January as well according to the Conference Board of Canada reported Monday. The index in January rose to 70.2 from 67.7 in December.

and from Ottawa, re: The Budget - January 27th, 2009 - The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) welcomes the federal government initiatives to stimulate economic growth outlined in the 2009 budget, especially those that will encourage home ownership in Canada. The Association applauds the government for recognizing the economic importance of the housing industry in some of the budget measures. Research conducted for CREA by the Altus Group shows that each residential real estate transaction in Canada generates $32,200 in ancillary consumer spending. The study also reported that 94,700 full time direct jobs were generated annually by that ancillary or spin-off activity. The study is posted on the CREA website.

and from Real Estate Monthly, Dec. issue: Opportunities exist for purchasers like never before, including lower interest rates, greater inventory levels, the luxury of time to make a decision, and the upper hand at the negotiating table. Motivated vendors will need to take note of the new mindset and set their prices accordingly. We could see a bounce back as early as Spring if inventory levels remain stable, pent-up demand kicks into gear, and lower interest rates stimulate home-buying activity.

and from Dan Richards, Nov. 28th issue of the Globe Investor Magazine Online - want to feel better about The Market? Check out this article

and lastly, some humour: a magazine recently ran a "Dilbert Quotes" contest. They were looking for people to submit quotes from their real-life Dilbert-type managers. These were our two favorites from the ones voted the top quotes in corporate America :

"What I need is an exact list of specific unknown problems we might encounter." ( Lykes Lines Shipping)

Quote from the Boss: "Teamwork is a lot of people doing what I say." (Marketing executive, Citrix Corporation)