There is some optimism for the real estate market in our area, in spite of the downturn in the economy.
Wasaga Beach based agent Glenn Cunningham says sales started to slow down just under a year ago, and have been quite slow since August.
Cunningham says sales are down about fifty percent this year from last.
But, he says the market was so ‘hot’ in recent years, a drop off is actually just a return to more normal sales figures.
Cunningham says though, he’s starting to see some movement by buyers tempted by interest rates as low as four percent.
Cunningham says a 4 per cent mortgage rate translates to a one-thousand dollar a month payment on a 175-thousand dollar house.
He says buyers who look at ‘fixer-uppers’ can also get a lot of help from new government programs for renovating and increasing energy efficiency.