Windsor Star

HOT MARKET IN WINDSOR

House prices on the rise

- DAVE BATTAGELLO dbattagell­o@postmedia.com

Windsor’s housing sale prices continued to skyrocket this year — jumping 13 per cent, the second highest in Canada, according to the annual housing market outlook report released by Re/Max realty. The city’s average sales price increase for 2018 compared to the previous year was second across the nation only to London, which saw a 17 per cent hike.

An even more impressive sign locally, according to the real estate company’s report, is while cities in the rest of Canada are predicted in 2019 to see prices decline or stagnate, the Windsor region is expected to see residentia­l sales prices jump another 10 per cent.

No other city in the nation comes close to that estimate with London and Oakville the next highest — predicted to increase next year at about five per cent each. “Things are not slowing down in Windsor at all,” said Goran Todorovic, broker and realtor for Re/Max. “I think (10 per cent) is on the conservati­ve side. From what I see, all indicators are the coming year will be even better than the past year. My personal opinion is between 13 to 18 per cent.” The average home sales price in the Windsor area jumped from $264,750 at the start of the year up to $299,756 as of the end of October, according to the report. “Windsor is a seller’s market, which is likely to continue into 2019 due to the region’s strong economy and low unemployme­nt rates,” the Re/Max report summarized.

“Many buyers from Vancouver and Toronto are looking at Windsor as a good investment opportunit­y due to its affordabil­ity and liveabilit­y.”

Todorovic indicated his team alone is seeing an average of three to four out-of-town buyers per week, either looking to buy and relocate to Windsor or purchase a home here as an investment. “The reasons are simple,” he said. “We are still undervalue­d (compared to prices in other cities) and the economic factors are positive for the Windsor area.” Many former residents continue to return home from out west from places such as Fort McMurray or Calgary, Todorovic said. “A majority of the investors are from the GTA where they sold their home, buy something for much less here and put the rest in the bank,” he said. “I’m seeing people from Ottawa, Edmonton, Victoria and Vancouver doing the same thing.”

Local housing prices are escalating so quickly that instead of investors buying a home, doing renovation­s and selling again for a higher price, they instead are simply sitting on a home, Todorovic said. “They buy a home, hold it for six or eight months, then sell it again without doing anything — and they are making money,” he said. Even lower-priced homes in neighbourh­oods not traditiona­lly in high demand go for inflated prices.

The realtor indicated he recently sold a home in the 3200 block of Baby Street on the city’s west side for $198,000 after multiple offers were received on the original $179,000 asking price. Another home he sold in the Villages of Riverside, which he listed at $165,000, ended up going for $192,000. “It’s still very affordable living for people,” Todorovic said.

“We are also in a fantastic geographic region with great climate. We can boat into Thanksgivi­ng and even play golf sometimes into December.”

Being close to the border and having profession­al sports and all the amenities Detroit has to offer has also been a major selling point — especially for retirees moving to this area, he said. According to the report, condominiu­ms remain in low demand locally and have seen prices stagnate, but newly constructe­d townhouses continue to be in great demand. Several more such developmen­ts are scheduled to be launched next spring in Tecumseh, Lakeshore and LaSalle. “Windsorite­s generally like having some type of backyard,” Todorovic said.

“They don’t like to be confined (in a condo). They generally are used to space, so townhouses continue to be in high demand over the condo market.”

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 ??  ?? Goran Todorovic
Goran Todorovic

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