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General Urban Kitchener Updates and Rumours
(12-02-2016, 06:53 AM)rangersfan Wrote: City staff is recommending the option to sell the former Royal Canadian Legion at 48 Onta St. N.


http://m.kitchenerpost.ca/news-story/699...mer-legion

I wonder if the site has enough redevelopment potential, assuming the original portion of the heritage building must be retained, to attract private investment?
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(12-02-2016, 09:58 AM)panamaniac Wrote:
(12-02-2016, 06:53 AM)rangersfan Wrote: City staff is recommending the option to sell the former Royal Canadian Legion at 48 Onta St. N.


http://m.kitchenerpost.ca/news-story/699...mer-legion

I wonder if the site has enough redevelopment potential, assuming the original portion of the heritage building must be retained, to attract private investment?

I can see someone buying the Legion and the next-door dentist's office (and maybe even Whisky Jack's) and assembling a larger development that incorporates the Legion building.
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The semi-detached houses on Walter Street are nearing completion and have been listed on the MLS.
[/url]
[url=https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/17648444/121-Walter-Street-Kitchener-Ontario-N2G1S3]
The asking price ($570,000) is unreal to me for the neighbourhood, but maybe there are enough buyers who value a new build in an established neighbourhood enough to pay it. In any case, it's nice to see two single family homes in disrepair knocked down and replaced with four semi-detached homes. Great way to make some very modest density improvements on residential streets near the cores. No risk of any push-back from neighbours.
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(12-10-2016, 02:22 PM)MidTowner Wrote: The semi-detached houses on Walter Street are nearing completion and have been listed on the MLS.
[/url]
[url=https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/17648444/121-Walter-Street-Kitchener-Ontario-N2G1S3]
The asking price ($570,000) is unreal to me for the neighbourhood, but maybe there are enough buyers who value a new build in an established neighbourhood enough to pay it. In any case, it's nice to see two single family homes in disrepair knocked down and replaced with four semi-detached homes. Great way to make some very modest density improvements on residential streets near the cores. No risk of any push-back from neighbours.

$570K + $570K = $1,140,000 

Pushing the market for a semi. HUGE profit push for some builder. 

IMO, I doubt this fetches $400K per side unless builder has deep pockets and can wait 2+ years
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(12-10-2016, 11:51 PM)MacBerry Wrote:
(12-10-2016, 02:22 PM)MidTowner Wrote: The semi-detached houses on Walter Street are nearing completion and have been listed on the MLS.
[/url]
[url=https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/17648444/121-Walter-Street-Kitchener-Ontario-N2G1S3]
The asking price ($570,000) is unreal to me for the neighbourhood, but maybe there are enough buyers who value a new build in an established neighbourhood enough to pay it. In any case, it's nice to see two single family homes in disrepair knocked down and replaced with four semi-detached homes. Great way to make some very modest density improvements on residential streets near the cores. No risk of any push-back from neighbours.

$570K + $570K = $1,140,000 

Pushing the market for a semi. HUGE profit push for some builder. 

IMO, I doubt this fetches $400K per side unless builder has deep pockets and can wait 2+ years
Reply
(12-10-2016, 11:51 PM)MacBerry Wrote:
(12-10-2016, 02:22 PM)MidTowner Wrote: The semi-detached houses on Walter Street are nearing completion and have been listed on the MLS.
[/url]
[url=https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Single-Family/17648444/121-Walter-Street-Kitchener-Ontario-N2G1S3]
The asking price ($570,000) is unreal to me for the neighbourhood, but maybe there are enough buyers who value a new build in an established neighbourhood enough to pay it. In any case, it's nice to see two single family homes in disrepair knocked down and replaced with four semi-detached homes. Great way to make some very modest density improvements on residential streets near the cores. No risk of any push-back from neighbours.

$570K + $570K = $1,140,000 

Pushing the market for a semi. HUGE profit push for some builder. 

IMO, I doubt this fetches $400K per side unless builder has deep pockets and can wait 2+ years

When I saw this price I immediately thought it was for both units. I was shocked to find out they wanted that for each semi. Paul Ballantyne is the listing agent so I wonder if this is a Vanguard development, and if so, they must have deep pockets to be sitting on that redevelopment of 72 Erb st. E for years now.
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(12-11-2016, 09:01 AM)C Plus Wrote:
(12-10-2016, 11:51 PM)MacBerry Wrote: $570K + $570K = $1,140,000 

Pushing the market for a semi. HUGE profit push for some builder. 

IMO, I doubt this fetches $400K per side unless builder has deep pockets and can wait 2+ years

When I saw this price I immediately thought it was for both units. I was shocked to find out they wanted that for each semi. Paul Ballantyne is the listing agent so I wonder if this is a Vanguard development, and if so, they must have deep pockets to be sitting on that redevelopment of 72 Erb st. E for years now.

I know it seems rediculous but I wouldn't be so quick to discount what they might fetch. There is a huge GTA interest and those people will pay that price. Just saying
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(12-11-2016, 02:00 PM)Rainrider22 Wrote: I know it seems rediculous but I wouldn't be so quick to discount what they might fetch. There is a huge GTA interest and those people will pay that price. Just saying

I fall somewhere in between you and MacBerry, who says he'd be surprised if they got $400,000. They're asking $570,000- that does seem ridiculous to me. But I've seen places in this part of the town which are in less than stellar shape go for over $400,000, and there has to be a premium for brand new construction with 21st century features. Usually, when you buy in a neighbourhood like this, you're getting something that has been adapted by potentially ten or twenty owners using various generations of technology, and I understand why some people may not be interested in that.

I have no idea about huge GTA interest, but I hear it from enough people that maybe there's something to it.
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(12-11-2016, 02:10 PM)MidTowner Wrote:
(12-11-2016, 02:00 PM)Rainrider22 Wrote: I know it seems rediculous but I wouldn't be so quick to discount what they might fetch. There is a huge GTA interest and those people will pay that price. Just saying

I fall somewhere in between you and MacBerry, who says he'd be surprised if they got $400,000. They're asking $570,000- that does seem ridiculous to me. But I've seen places in this part of the town which are in less than stellar shape go for over $400,000, and there has to be a premium for brand new construction with 21st century features. Usually, when you buy in a neighbourhood like this, you're getting something that has been adapted by potentially ten or twenty owners using various generations of technology, and I understand why some people may not be interested in that.

I have no idea about huge GTA interest, but I hear it from enough people that maybe there's something to it.

GTA interest is alive and real.  Ask any realtor how many times their phone rings with a 416 or 905 area code. More and more people are coming this way and will commute.  

For good or bad. It might expedite two way rail service and increased transit funding. Queens Park is very alive to what is happening out here.
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(12-11-2016, 02:10 PM)MidTowner Wrote: I fall somewhere in between you and MacBerry, who says he'd be surprised if they got $400,000. They're asking $570,000- that does seem ridiculous to me. But I've seen places in this part of the town which are in less than stellar shape go for over $400,000, and there has to be a premium for brand new construction with 21st century features. Usually, when you buy in a neighbourhood like this, you're getting something that has been adapted by potentially ten or twenty owners using various generations of technology, and I understand why some people may not be interested in that.

These are about 2000 sq ft, and apparently being built with high-end features.  Certainly if you compare to a larger condo unit (even a new townhouse condo unit such as 144 Park) the price tag doesn't look so bad.

I think they are pushing the envelope $570K, but I do believe they will be able to sell these for over $500K.
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I would have to agree that I think the spill-over from the GTA is starting to accelerate; which is both good and bad I think. I always thought it was a bit of a nice thing that commuting patterns showed that we weren't as much of a "bedroom" community to the GTA as other areas (Oshawa, Oakville, etc.), but it has become more of a necessary evil I think.

People camping out for new blocks of houses to come on the markets or houses with basic finishes and unfinished basements that used to be $300,000 5 years ago are going for >$600,000 today (e.g. Dearborn neighbourhood of Waterloo) and townhouses in Kitchener originally purchased for $269,000 selling for $359,000 these days (Queen and Highland). Those are huge price gains in a very short time without any upgrades done in the interim. It's a little too bubble like for me.

Just down the street that unbuilt NEO development backing on to the IHT is going for $599,000 (1500sqft):
https://www.realtor.ca/Residential/Singl...rio-N2G1T9
Everyone move to the back of the bus and we all get home faster.
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I do hear from realtors that they are getting a lot of contact from GTA agents. Because of their line of work, I take it with a grain of salt. I'm not disputing that it exists, but wonder at the exact scale.

Prices in my urban Kitchener neighbourhood and nearby ones (the only ones I'm really familiar with) seem to be going up at similar rates to the examples you report, Pheidippides. It seems bubbly to me, too. But I'm happy to see the infill that is going on and is proposed. There's another small project recently listed over on Bismark in Mount Hope.
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Didn't I see recently that Cambridge SFH average prices are up something like 25% on the year? Shortage of supply, apparently, but Cambridge is the part of the region that experiences most of the "GTA effect", no?
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There was an article with more specific figures but I can not find it now. This article states between 75 to 80% of real estate transactions (recent?) are locals.

http://m.kitchenerpost.ca/news-story/693...highs-lows
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National numbers (trying to find the news article) had shown that foreign buyers account for 5% of homes sold, whereas individuals buying second homes to use as rental properties accounts for 25-30% of all home sales. We are hurting ourselves, not some other country (save perhaps a small number of localized effects).
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