The Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, CMHC, just released their third quarter outlook for the Barrie real estate market.  So far this year total starts in the New Home market are down and Resale Home sales have decreased slightly but still remain above the quarterly average. Looking to buy from the builder? Compared to last year, total starts (new homes being built) are down quite a bit. This is due mainly to the decrease in apartment starts. Apartments have become more common in Barrie over the last few years mainly because of the declining household sizes of an aging population and space constraints due to population growth. Though apartments are in demand, they take longer to construct. Some apartments which started being built in the second quarter of 2011 are still in cons... 08/07/2012

Home sales up in July Barrie Homes for sale. What are properties selling for? Selling a home in Barrie, Ontario. Buying or selling a Barrie home get a top realtor working for you.  www.DonMcAskin.com Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. numbered 418 units in July 2012, up 10 per cent from the same month last year. This was the seventh consecutive year-over-year gain. Within the city of Barrie, sales activity recorded an increase on par with the overall region. The city of Barrie saw 255 residential sales in July, also 10 per cent above levels from July 2011. “Resale housing demand moderated a bit in July compared to levels in recent months, but remains well above the kinds of levels we were seeing at this time... 08/07/2012

Home sales up in July   Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. numbered 418 units in July 2012, up 10 per cent from the same month last year. This was the seventh consecutive year-over-year gain.   Within the city of Barrie, sales activity recorded an increase on par with the overall region. The city of Barrie saw 255 residential sales in July, also 10 per cent above levels from July 2011.   “Resale housing demand moderated a bit in July compared to levels in recent months, but remains well above the kinds of levels we were seeing at this time last year,” said Walter Doret, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “A total of 2,973 homes have traded hands so far this year. This is up 14 per... 08/03/2012

07/30/2012

Barrie, Ontario is a great, safe place to live! Everybody wants a safe place to call "home", we all want to live in a place where children can play in the streets safely and have fun in the parks! It is also nice to know that we can arrive home late at night without having to worry about hijackers lurking behind bushes, waiting to take a life in exchange for a car!   Barrie's Police Chief Mark Neelin, says its comforting to know that he oversees a safe city. Statistics Canada released its 2011 crime severity index last week and Barrie is once again the fifth safest big city to live in behind Ottawa, Toronto, Quebec and Guelph. These are all much larger cities..... All in all, 33 major cities with populations over 100 000 were listed on the Census Metropolitan Area Chart. Neelin added th... 07/28/2012

 As longtime readers, or people in my marketplace might know, I previously drove a Dark Blue Passat Stationwagen (diesel).  I had my brokerage (and symbol - "rock" and then "hot air balloon"), my website and my office phone number in white vinyl lettering on the side and rear windows of this car. It has been the most effective (and cost-effective) single piece of marketing I have attempted.  The signage on my Passat, as simple as it is, has resulted in three listings and numerous inquiries, and only comes with a small price... any and everyone knows who is driving my car.  I can remember driving home from a vacation in the U.S. on Q.E.W. heading to Toronto when Alec asked for a drink.  Helen passed him a carton of milk and asked for it back when he was finished drinking.  Unknown to us,... 07/18/2012

Don't ask me if the price of gold or silver will be up or down next year because I don't know. I couldn't tell you how future tropical storms or the psychological disorders of middle eastern leaders might affect the supply and price of oil in the coming years or whether RIM will bounce back  or if Apple will finally begin to wilt on the vine.  What I can tell you with certainty is that every Canadian here now or likely to move to our fine Country in the coming years requires a place to live. Real Estate has and will continue to be one of, if not the best hedge against inflation for average Canadians over the long hall. Next to real estate, precious metals are historically a safe bet though walking around with a briefcase of bullion offers little in terms of real life day to day value w... 07/17/2012

Home sales numbers continue to climb in June   Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. numbered 516 units in June, up three per cent from year-ago levels. Within the city of Barrie, sales activity was up by more than the overall trend for the region. The city of Barrie saw 314 residential sales in June, five per cent above levels from June 2011. “Resale housing demand recorded another strong month in June 2012, although the year-over-year gain was considerably more modest than the 21 per cent jump we saw in May,” said Walter Doret, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “A total of 2,555 homes have traded hands so far this year. This is up 14 per cent from the first half of 2011, and marks... 07/06/2012

Food Irradiation, according to a definition in Wikipedia is: the process of exposing food to ionizing radiation to destroy microorganisms, bacteria, viruses, or insects that might be present in the food. Further applications include sprout inhibition, delay of ripening, increase of juice yield, and improvement of re-hydration. Irradiated food does not become radioactive, but in some cases there may be subtle chemical changes. U.S. Government Food Irradiation Food Irradiation in Canada April 2012 Survey of Canadian Opinion regarding Food Irradiation In Canada, three types of radiation are permitted: Gamma Ray, X-ray and Electron Beam radiation.  It is possible for irradiated food to become contaminated after it has been treated. There is much controversy over the subject, and I have chos... 06/19/2012

    Go Train Schedule Expansion  Week-end and Holiday Go Train service is coming to Barrie, starting June 23rd until September 3rd.  For each day of service two trains will originate at Allandale Waterfront GO Station making all stops south to Union Station. Two trips will return from Union Station coming up to Allandale Station.  An additional 4 trips will originate in East Gwillimbury and return to East Gwillimbury with continued bus service to Barrie. A Great Investment property in Allandale by the Go train is located at 145 and 147 Burton Ave.  Barrie Ontario.  Pictures and details on this property are available, great investment property. For more information on this property or others in Barrie Downtown, contact the expert for Downtown Barrie Properities. This pilot project will s... 06/13/2012

    This past week marked the passing of 27 years since the May 31st day in 1985 when Barrie residents learned first hand what being in the path of a tornado is all about. That hot and humid Friday afternoon my long time friend Stan and myself jumped on our bikes and left Toronto heading north up the 400 hwy for a weekend in cottage country. The weekend Hwy 400 traffic was almost as heavy then as it is today. As we passed through the long flat stretch of the Holland Marsh you could see a dark line of cloud stretching from north to south a mile or so to the west and heading our way. The black soil of the marsh came to an abrupt end in the distance where the edge of the storm was moving towards us like a blue grey curtain.  The storm caught up with us around the Cookstown exit and turned ... 06/03/2012

April Home Sales were up in Barrie area     Residential property sales recorded through the MLS® System of the Barrie & District Association of REALTORS® Inc. numbered 488 units in April, rising 14 per cent from year-ago levels. Within the city of Barrie, sales activity was up by more than the overall trend for the region. The city of Barrie saw 310 residential sales in April, 29 per cent above levels from April 2011.   On a year-to-date basis, sales activity was running 16 per cent ahead of the first four months of 2011.   “Demand remained at above average levels in April,” said Walter Doret, President of the Barrie and District Association of REALTORS®. “It’s actually been one of the strongest starts to any year on record. That’s drawing down the overall supply of properties for sale,... 05/10/2012

The Barrie Real Estate Page on Facebook has 203 subscribers (likes) as of this morning, (May 1st). For each new subscriber ("like") from Barrie and area residents between now and May 15th (2 weeks), or until the page has 1000 subscribers (which ever comes first), I will be making a donation of $1.00 to the David Busby Street Centre. If you are not already receiving local real estate market news and information from the Barrie Real Estate Page, have a look and if you like it, "like" it. 05/01/2012

There are a number of choices to be had these days for anyone requiring the services of a Realtor who find themselves at the intersection of Minet's Point Road and Lakeshore Drive along the south side of Kempenfelt Bay in Barrie. From the centre of the intersection depending on which direction you are facing you can see the Brokerage offices of Sutton Group Incentive Realty Inc., pioneers to the location, Royal Lepage First Contact Realty Inc. and let me welcome the new kids on the block this year, Century 21 B. J. Roth Realty. If you have concerns about Bank of Canada lending rates or wish to propose new incentives for first time home buyers, our MP keeps an office in one of the buildings and there is a growing supply of mortgage lenders and lawyers close at hand to help you seal the d... 04/25/2012

The  Barrie area spring real estate market  is different from last year's yet again. April and May are traditionally the busiest months of the year for new listings and buyer activity. This year is busier to date than last year which was also slower at this point than the previous year.  Last years market got off to a late start where as this year, the buyers started out early. This year the demand for housing dramatically increased in February at record levels in a month when traditionally most Realtors have yet to see their own shadows. March and April so far has seen demand out pacing the supply of homes in the region, this activity is coming mainly from investors and first time buyers. The continuation of low interest rates along with national headlines indicating that those rates a... 04/20/2012

Condo Craziness continues to envelope the GTA According to Bloomberg News, if you took your time from a clear vantage point such as the top of the CN Tower you should be able to count 128 construction cranes on condominium development sites between you and the outlying borders of Metropolitan Toronto this spring. For some further perspective, that's three condo's being built in Toronto for every one under construction in New York City at present, that ratio grows to seven to one between Toronto and Chicago. Vancouver has also been experiencing a similar flury of condo development that has to have many of us who pay attention to our day to day economic news scratching our heads. Calgary and Edmonton are showing higher levels of current economic recovery and future economic promise yet t... 04/16/2012

04/03/2012

Once again the mortgage market are abuzz with interest rate changes and what is happening in the Canadian real estate market. Is it a bubble, soft landings, bursts....etc.... As well I couldn't help but notice in todays Financial Post how Spain is on an eviction tear and thousands and thousands are being evicted because they can no longer afford the mortgages they once had.Although I am not the sharpest knife in the drawer, I tried to put recent news items together, when over the past few months I have been reading about how the Canadian market is in a bubble and that we are in for a US style correction. So as I contemplate what is happening in Spain, Ireland andy US where foreclosures and decreases in property values are rampant, I can't help but go back to my basic real estate investi... 03/27/2012

“They just don’t build homes like they used to” is a commonly heard phrase. While often used, it is truly a misconception. Homes are built a lot better than they used to be. In fact, on January 1st, 2012 a new Building Code came into effect mandating a lot of changes. Most notably are the changes to insulation values, heating and air-conditioning. The Pink board on the exterior of our new homes in Barrie is an insulating board that helps seal up the home and reduce the amount of heat loss. At Pratt Homes we embrace the changes even though they mean a slightly higher cost of building. Better insulation values and a tighter built home means savings for our homeowners in the long run. Buying a new Pratt Home means that you will save on your heating bill and help reduce the environmental fo... 03/13/2012

"...Nothing is going to get better. It's not." Fitting closing words to The Lorax, Dr. Seuss' beloved storybook about the pint-sized crusader who "speaks for the trees". Theodor "Dr Seusss" Geisel was ahead of his time, writing The Lorax, his moving earth friendly short story when Earth Day was only one year old, would have turned 108 on the movie's opening day Friday March the 2nd, 2012. Universal Studios has added love interest angle (Audrey) and a new villain (O'Hare - a tiny little fellow who gets rich selling citizens of Thneedville plastic bottles of air after the atmosphere becomes polluted when all the trees have been cut down) to the original 45 page book to make this visually effective, colourfully musical and wholly entertaining 94 minute movie.  Helen, Alec and I saw this mo... 03/12/2012