Here is an article that recently appeared in our major local newspaper, The Record. The article discusses the real estate market in the Kitchener-Waterloo area and suggests that the local economy is on the way to recovery, lead by the real estate market.

July 23, 2009

BY CHUCK HOWITT, RECORD STAFF

KITCHENER - While the national economy appears to have turned a corner from the sudden and brutal recession of the past nine months, what has amazed economists even more is the rebound in the housing market.

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Home sales have recovered much of their decline and house prices, "much to our surprise have pretty well retraced" from the lows of previous months, Sal Guatieri, a senior economist with BMO Capital Markets, told a seminar on the real estate market in Kitchener yesterday.

Unemployment is easing and retail spending is beginning to reawaken, but the main reason is low mortgage rates, he said.

His comments were echoed by Karen Shartun, president of the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board. House sales have been up in the board's coverage area for the past few months compared to the same period last year, and average prices have dropped only 2.5 per cent. "This is a pretty darned stable real estate market," she said.

Gord Dunn, a mortgage development manager with BMO Bank of Montreal, said he is seeing more first-time homebuyers coming through the door. The incentives have never been better, including the option of higher downpayments from retirement savings plans, better tax breaks and low interest rates, he said. It's possible to get a $200,000 mortgage for as little as $900 a month, he noted.

Read the rest of the article at The Record website