Home sales were just 1% short of the record high in the Kitchener-Waterloo region of Ontario.
There were 6,549 homes sold during 2017 by members of Kitchener-Waterloo Association of Realtors, following the record-smashing 2016.
December sales continued the trend with 301 sales, 1% above a year earlier and 13% above the five-year average.
“There was a definite push by some buyers to purchase a home prior to the new mortgage stress test kicking in January of 2018,” noted Tony Schmidt, President of KWAR. “While we appreciate the intent of these additional changes, ultimately they will make it harder for some consumers to purchase the home they want.”
He added that the demand was strong enough to have set a new record for the year but supply issues meant that wasn’t achieved.
Schmidt said that the psychological impact of the Ontario Fair Housing Plan on buyers and sellers in the region had a greater effect than the policy itself.
“For Waterloo Region these impacts were not yet as acute as in other areas of the GGH, but we are certainly concerned that any additional restrictions will further impede consumer affordability for homes,” he concluded.
source: http://www.canadianrealestatemagazine.ca/market-update/nearrecord-sales-for-this-ontario-market-235918.aspx
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