The 2010 Real Estate year began with the best January ever; beating out the previous record set in January 2006 and seeing the sale of residential properties reach a monthly high for the fifth time in a row. Home sales activity reached 416 residential units, a jump of nearly 64 percent compared to January 2009 and the total dollar volume of residential properties purchased also increased by 84 percent compared to the same month last year.

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According to the Kitchener Waterloo Real Estate Board (KWREB), these results show there is definitely a strong demand in the market and the traditional mindset of waiting until spring did not seem to apply this year. Higher price ranges did exceptionally well in January, with 54 homes selling for more than $400,000 compared to 22 sales in January 2009. Homes in the $225,000 - $250,000 range continued to be the most active price point, up 29.8 percent over last year.

February saw KWREB REALTORS® trade 553 homes through the Multiple Listing Service (MLS®) marking the most residential February sales in over two decades. The average sale price of all residential sales increased 12.2 percent to $276,891 compared with February 2009. Single detached homes sold for an average price of $324,631, an increase of 15.8 percent compared to last year. In the condominium market the average sale price in February was $173,726, an increase of 8.3 percent. The most active price range continued to be homes selling between $225,000 and $250,000, with 93 sales, up 50 percent over last year.

Most recently, residential property sales in March surpassed the 700 transaction threshold for the first time. According to the KWREB, the high activity in March is more typically seen in April and May. The most popular price range continued to be homes selling for between $225,000 and $250,000, with 120 sales in March, up 36.4 percent over last year. Demand for the highest price ranges continued to grow, with a notable 200 percent increase in residential sales over $500,000. There were 39 homes sold in March for more than half a million dollars, compared to only 13 properties this time last year.

KWREB credits the encouraging sales to a number of factors: The economic outlook, consumer confidence, the coming Harmonized Sales Tax, and most notably, the recent announcement of mortgage rate increases, with more adjustments expected to come.

The above information is based on MLS® data owned by the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board, Inc. Jan 1 10 to Mar 31 10.