Monday, December 4, 2017 / by Geoff Appleton
Home-Ward Bound December 2017
The Merriest of Holidays!
December is the busiest and most wonderful month of the year! The air fairly crackles with excitement and joy! Home to good, old fashioned Christmas baking, glittering lights on trees, festive get togethers with friends and family from far and wide, and thoughtful gift giving. It is the month where we celebrate love, kindness and generosity like no other.
The birthstones of December are the Turquoise, Zircon and Tanzanite, and its flowers are the Narcissus and Holly. The first month of winter, December has the shortest daylight hours of the year, and hosts the longest night – the Winter Solstice.
At this blessed holiday time, our thoughts always turn gratefully to all of you who have helped us achieve yet another successful year. Over the course of our careers, you have recommended us to your family, friends and neighbours and they in turn, have done the same. As a result, we are enjoying a career rich in long term, authentic relationships – serving generations of families and circles of friends.
We look forward to watching your children grow, mature and buy homes of their own one day, of serving them as we have you. That gift of legacy is a true privilege and honour to us, and one that we treasure.
Whatever your family traditions may be, and wherever your travels take you during the season, we simply wish you the happiest of holidays and the very best of health and prosperity in the year to come!
A History of Boxing Day. . .
December 26, the day after Christmas, is known as Boxing Day, a secular holiday celebrated in parts of the Commonwealth, including here in Canada. Boxing Day started in medieval Britain, when it was customary for servants and employees to have the day after Christmas off and to receive gift boxes from the aristocracy they served. A national holiday since 1871, Boxing Day is now most famous for post-Christmas shopping and leftover turkey!
WHIITBY SANTA CLAUS PARADE
December 2, 10am
SCOGOG SANTA CLAUS PARADE
December 2, 5pm
COURTICE SANTA CLAUS PARADE
December 3, 12pm
THEE FARMERS PARADE OF LIGHTS
December 6, 6pm in Enniskillen and Tyrone
SUNDERLAND SANTA CLAUS PARADE
December 9, 6:30pm
Family Fun Around Durham
Whitby’s Annual Christmas Tree Lighting
December 1@ 6pm, Celebration Square
Tree Lighting & Fireworks Event
December 1 @ 6:30pm, Esplanade Park, Pickering
Christmas Moonlight Magic
December 1 @ 6pm, Bowmanville town square – Christmas tree lighting ceremony, free wagon rides, and a visit from Santa with his live reindeer!
Festival of Lights
December 6 @ 6:30pm, Uxbridge
Oshawa Celebrates 2018
December 31 @ 6pm, Legends Centre – free family friendly event featuring swimming, skating, hot chocolate and crafts with a countdown at 9pm.
To All the Families out there…
Right now, there are moms and dads out there struggling for their kids, wondering how to bring joy back into their lives as they fight debilitating illnesses. These Parents with kids fighting for their life are most likely NOT thinking about getting the Christmas lights up. They are simply just being there, doing what a real loving families do.
This is where you can help…
As you probably know Make A Wish Canada does great work in helping Kids fight through and survive nasty diseases and cancers. And as you know Make A Wish® depends on sponsorships and donations to provide top care while keeping family costs to a minimum.
So, YOUR REFERRALS REALLY DO HELP THE KIDS…
Who do you know considering buying or selling a home you could refer to my real estate sales team?
Not only will they benefit from our award-winning service, you can rest assured a very worthy cause benefits as well!
I want to make it easy to refer your friends, neighbors, associates or family members considering making a move, so here are your options:
1. You can go to www.ReferAFriend.info and enter their contact info on line or forward the link to who you know considering a move.
2. Of course you can always call me direct as well at 905-728-1600.
Remember our promises to buyers and sellers!
Home Sellers Receive this guarantee: Your Home Sold at Your Price or We’ll Buy It!*
Home Buyers Receive this guarantee: Guaranteed 100% Satisfaction With Your Home Purchase or We’ll Buy It Back!*
Life moves fast for some and we are eager to make the Home Selling and Buying experience a smooth rewarding one. Over the years of helping families sell their home and/or buy another, we have met some wonderful, loving, caring people. People like you! So your referrals, those you know considering a move, that we help – you can rest assured that not only will they get the award winning service we are known for, but that a portion of the income we receive will go toward a very worthy cause.
INDUSTRY STATS
Average Selling Price in the Durham Region for October 2017: $575,602.
Average Selling Price in Oshawa for October 2017: $483,851.
Average Selling Price in Clarington for October 2017: $524,640.
Average Selling Price in Whitby for October 2017: $615,599.
Average Selling Price in Scugog for October 2017: $611,274.
Average Selling Price in Ajax for October 2017: $615,811.
Average Selling Price in Pickering for October 2017: $672,018.
Source: DRAR
The Highs, Lows and Oohhs of the Market
In October, the Durham Region Association of REALTORS reported 845 residential sales in the Durham Region, a 23% decrease from October 2016, and a nominal increase over September 2017.
The average selling price in Durham for the month of October was $575,602, representing a less than 1% decrease from September 2017, but still an increase of 2% over October 2016. However, it still represents a drop of 18% from our peak average posted in April 2017 of $702,768.
The amount of new listing inventory between September 2017 and October 2017 rose by 602 units, finishing at 1,698 new listings in Durham Region for the month of October. In October 2016, the new listing inventory was much lower at 1,327 units.
For the fourth month in a row, and only the fourth time this year, the average home selling price in Durham Region fell below $600,000. It appears the market may be leveling off around a mid to high $570’s number, as the last four months have shown average sale prices of $569,748 (July), $587,172 (Aug) $578,666(Sept) and now $575,602. Homes continue to sell well at an average market time of 22 days.
The Law of Supply and Demand continues to play a significant role in our present market conditions: year to date, the Durham Region has had 9,723 residential sales. Compared to 11,205 in the previous year to date, the market is down 13% in sales. In inventory though, there have been 18,828 listings taken year to date in 2017. That number is 34% higher than the previous year to date, which sits at 14,061.
Here’s the average price breakdowns for October:
The average detached dwelling sold for $631,059 and sold for 98% of list price in 23 days!
The average semi-detached dwelling sold for $478,925 and sold for 98% of list price in 20 days!
The average link dwelling sold for $511,632 and sold for 98% of list price in 20 days!
The average freehold townhouse sold for $501,601 and sold for 98% of list price in 18 days!
The average condominium apartment sold for $399,687 and sold for 99% of list price in 22 days!
The average condominium townhouse sold for $394,843 and sold for 99% of list price in 25 days!
DECEMBER DATES TO REMEMBER
Dec 1: World AIDS Awareness Day
Dec 9: International Children’s Day
Dec 10: Human Rights Day
Dec 21: Winter Solstice
Dec 25: Christmas Day
Dec 26: Boxing Day
Dec 31: New Year’s Eve Day
NEW BANKING REGULATIONS:
The STRESS in the new “Stress Test”.
Canada’s banking regulator – the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions, or OSFI for short, has taken steps to “reinforce a strong and prudent regulatory regime for residential mortgages” in Canada, revealing its new underwriting standards in Guideline B-20, effective January 1, 2018.
This guideline now requires the minimum qualifying rate for uninsured mortgages to be the greater of the five-year benchmark rate published by the Bank of Canada, or the contractual mortgage rate, +2%. That means a borrower with a down payment of more than 20% of the home’s value must now meet stress test requirements that were previously only applicable to borrowers with either CMHC insured mortgages (less than 20% down payment) or variable /short term mortgages. This legislation will severely impact how much home a buyer can afford. And it effects not just first time buyers, but every buyer in the marketplace who has mortgaging needs, despite how healthy the size of their down payment is.
2018 will see a record number -- 1 in 5 to be precise -- of mortgages come due for renewal. With Canadians carrying the highest ever average household debt of $1.68 per $1 of disposable income, OSFI says it moved to enact these changes to curb the flood of potential defaults and arrears before they happen, citing that the historically low interest rates and high real estate prices were serious factors in the decision as well.
If your mortgage is due to renew after January 1, 2018, call me first so I can help you navigate your best options.
Source: osfi-bsif.gc.ca, canadianmortgagetrends.com
Remember Our Promises to Buyers and Sellers!
Home Sellers Receive this Guarantee: Your Home Sold at Your Price or We’ll Buy It!*
Home Buyers Receive this Guarantee: Guaranteed 100% Satisfaction With Your Home Purchase or We’ll Buy It Back!*
Life moves fast for some and we are eager to make the Home Selling and Buying experience a smooth and rewarding one. Over the years of helping families to sell their homes and/or buy another, we have met some wonderful, loving, caring people. People like you!
So your referrals, those you know considering a move, that we help – you can rest assured that not only will they get the award winning service we are known for, but that a portion of the income we receive will go towards a very worthy cause.
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OSHAWA!
The Conference Board of Canada recently projected that Oshawa will have the fastest growing economy among all mid-sized Canadian cities in 2018!
Oshawa’s unemployment rate has also dropped to its lowest point in a decade. With $4.7 billion in current and proposed development investment, Oshawa remains in a strong economic position.
Why I Support, Make A Wish ®
I grew up right here in Oshawa. Born in Oshawa General Hospital. I remember when I first heard about a young person close to our family suffering from a nasty disease that was granted A Wish from Children's Wish Foundation . This was the turning point in this persons recovery. It was then that I began to pay closer attention to the work they do. Since then, I have learned that it is a collection of hard working professionals all coming together for a common cause. That cause is to help young people over come unfortunate health issues that life sometimes throws our way. I take pride in supporting in a way that I can, the good work these people do at Make A Wish . My team rally’s around our annual goal of raising money and donating portions of our income to help Make A Wish in their quest to heal young people when they need healing. My team and I are committed to providing outstanding results for buyers and sellers referred to us by our past clients. I have discovered that Make A Wish shares similar commitments to their patients. And since their services survive on sponsorships and donations we are happy to contribute and proud to support them.
Sincerely,
Geoff Appleton
SPOTLIGHT ON DURHAM
Auberge et Spa: Le Nordik Inc at Cullen Central Park
The world class, nature spa facility is finally coming to Whitby! Announced in 2010, the multimillion dollar project was confirmed on October 10, 2017 as moving forward. The Quebec–based company expects construction to begin summer 2018, with a summer 2019 opening. Phase 1 of the project will see a 700 guest capacity spa featuring thermal baths, saunas, pools and waterfalls all inspired by Scandinavian traditions, as well as massage and wellness treatments. The year round facility will also house two restaurants, a retail boutique and a conference area. Phase 2 of the project includes a hotel complex but no official plans have been submitted to date. It is estimated that this destination spa will attract over 100,000 visitors annually and dramatically increase tourism to our Region! Congratulations Whitby!
Over the years of helping families sell their home and/or buy another, we have met some wonderful, loving, caring people. People like you! So your referrals, those you know considering a move, that we help - you can rest assured that not only will they get the award winning service we are known for and the guarantee to back it up, but that a solid portion of the income we receive from the transaction will go toward a very worthy cause.
Not only will they benefit from our award winning service, you can rest assured we are also donating to a very worthy cause.
Again, it’s easy to refer your friends, neighbours, associates or family members considering making a move:
1. You can go to www.ReferAFriend.info and enter their contact info on line or forward the link to who you know considering a move.
2. Of course you can always call me direct as well at 905-728-1600.
I hope you and your loved ones have an extra special Holiday Season filled with much joy and happiness.
With all my appreciation.
Geoff Appleton sales representative Remax Jazz Inc Brokerage
P.S. The story of this young person below may cause you to look at your loved ones differently. It did me. Check it out.
Sarah’s wish was a celebration of family and her future
When Sarah was a little girl her mom would describe her as very independent and an old soul, wise beyond her years. She was also very happy, carefree and rolled with the punches. At 10, however, Sarah was diagnosed with a cancerous growth around her eye. It rocked her family’s whole world, and the word ‘cancer’ was something they couldn’t even bear to say for the first few weeks after her diagnosis — it didn’t feel this was actually happening to them.
“It just puts everything into perspective immediately... We are a family that has had a child diagnosed with a very very serious illness and it almost sets you apart then from the rest of the world,” Sarah's mom says.
Sarah was in the hospital for a year, and underwent 47 chemotherapy treatments and 25 radiation treatments. During that time, someone at the hospital talked to Sarah’s family about Make-A-Wish®.
After her wish, Sarah and her family became very involved as ambassadors for Make-A-Wish. Sarah shares her story at events and she and her mom have volunteered with their local Make-A-Wish chapter. Sarah is also a volunteer wish granter now, and understands how a child feels when they find out that their wish is coming true: “Families with sick children need this experience. You treat the child with medicine, but you treat the whole family with a wish. A wish brings the family back together and as a child, you need to be able to dream and make your own choices,” she says.
In 2016, Sarah graduated with honours from the University of Western Ontario. She majored in biology and hopes to attend medical school and become a pediatric oncologist.
“I’m not sure when I made up my mind that my goal was to become a doctor, but I have always been on this path and I look back on my time with cancer positively," Sarah says. "The experience really molded me into who I am today... I look back on it and I know the faces of the people who helped me. I am passionate about learning and helping people who find themselves in a situation I was once in.”
Thank you to WestJet for helping to make Hannah’s wish so memorable.
