New Year. New Team. New Website!

Yes, that’s a lot of NEWS, but we’ve been hard at work the last few months and we’re finally ready to share some of it with you. As most of you know, we have officially announced the formation of the It’s Your Move Real Estate Team.

We’ve also recently launched our Team Facebook page and website and hope these two platforms can help us provide more value to you; our clients, family, and friends. If you get a chance, please take a few minutes to peruse our website and let us know what you think…we’d love your feedback.

We’ve set it up so you’ll find a lot of helpful tips on home ownership as well as specified sections for Buyers (check out our Resource’s Page) and for Sellers (we just put the finishing touches on our 8 week Marketing Plan and are confident that you’re going to love it as much as we do!).

Why this Team?

We believe that we’re better together.

This team is built upon a foundation of respect and an appreciation of what each of us contributes and our goal is to be the team that provides the best service and client experience in the city.

Now our clients and your friends (we love your referrals) have all 4 of us working for you and your best interests. We’re not just a team in name, we’re a team in our daily routines. We’re always sharing best practices and using our individual strengths to bring more value to each one of our clients throughout the entire buying and selling process.

Brief Market Update

The Real Estate Market in Kingston delivered the best year for home sales since 2007. Sales totalled 3,624 units for the year which was a 14.5% increase from 2015 by volume and the annual average price for homes increased 4.6% to $306,849. It’s interesting to note though that there’s a story behind this increase. If we break the numbers out the vast majority of the increase in average home price is actually attributable to the increase in the sale of higher end homes. 2016 saw more homes sell for $500,000+ and our market saw more million dollar (and more) homes than ever before. When we discount this increase many price ranges actually remained relatively flat year over year.

Many analysts are forecasting this trend to continue in Kingston through 2017 as the purchasing power of the average Kingstonian continues to increase.

There is some uncertainty surrounding the new mortgage rules (particularly for First Time Home Buyers). We are, however, seeing new incentives such as the increased maximum for the Land Transfer Tax Rebate. If you’re thinking about buying or selling in the next few years we’d highly recommend getting together with your mortgage advisor to discuss how best to prepare. If you aren’t currently working with someone and would like a referral to one of our preferred partners please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Also, if you’re interested in income property, keep in mind that Kingston has the 3rd highest 2 bedroom rent rate in Ontario and vacancy rates continued to decline in 2016. This is good news in some ways but will also likely mean an increase in prices for investment properties as the perceived risks are ratcheted downward.