A May 20 article in the Kitchener-Waterloo's local newspaper (The Waterloo Region Record) mentions that the demand for new and resale homes in Waterloo Region is expected to fall in 2009 and should see a rebound in 2010.

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Weaker housing market seen in '09

CMHC predicts housing starts in the region will fall 16 per cent and resale homes 19 per cent

May 20, 2008 - RECORD STAFF

WATERLOO REGION - Demand for new and resale homes in Waterloo Region will fall sharply this year before rebounding slightly in 2010, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. said yesterday.

The corporation also said that resale home prices will decline this year for the first time in 13 years.

Builders will pour foundations for 2,200 homes in the Kitchener census metropolitan area in 2009, down 16 per cent from the 2,634 homes started last year, the corporation forecasts in its Spring Housing Market Outlook.

In the resale market, sales through the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board will fall 19 per cent to 5,100, the corporation said.

"An easing labour market will push demand for ownership housing lower," Erica McLerie, the corporation's senior market analyst for the Kitchener census metropolitan area, said in a news release. The Kitchener census metropolitan area takes in all of Waterloo Region except for Wilmot and Wellesley townships.

The corporation said that in addition to higher unemployment -- the region's jobless rate climbed to 10.1 per cent in April -- reduced spillover demand from the resale market and the satiation of pent-up demand that built up in the 1990s have weakened demand for new homes.

It is forecasting a slight bounce back in 2010. It is calling for 2,300 housing starts and 5,300 resale home sales next year.

Read the entire article at The Record Website: http://news.therecord.com/article/539585