Drop in MLS solds across Waterloo Region

Year to date the Waterloo Region seems to be faltering when you look at the MLS solds year over year. An article in the Record last month had some horrific numbers for solds. The article for this month tries to paint a rosier picture by slipping in the YTD stats at the bottom. It seems that the editorial staff the Record are not overly strong in their math skills. They made the error of dividing the difference by this year's total and not last year's giving us the wrong percentage decreases. I have adjusted them below for an accurate assessment.


KW MLS Solds
YTD 08 = 5175
YTD 07 = 5481
Difference = -5.58%


Cambridge MLS Solds
YTD 08 = 2142
YTD 07 = 2437
Difference = -12.1%

When you start adding in the impact of Private Sale into the mix it adjusts slightly. When you add in all the properties sold on PropertyGuys.com (Unfortunately I do not have access to other information) and look at the comparison year over year, it does paint a better picture.

Adjusted KW Solds
YTD 08 = 5336
YTD 07 = 5596
Adjusted Difference = -4.64%


Adjusted Cambridge Solds
YTD 08 = 2199
YTD 07 = 2492
Adjusted Difference = -11.75%

In both markets PropertyGuys.com has seen an increase in sold properties year over year when MLS has seen dramatic drops. In KW the increase was 40% over the same period last year. These increases are all part of a change starting in real estate, a revolution if you will. People are realizing that with the increases we have seen in house prices mixed with no adjustment to the commission based system they need to find an alternative. With the all the talk of economic hard ship and Scotiabank even using the "R" word in today's report people are looking to save where they can, a nickle hear and a dime there. In real estate we are talking about more than a few nickles.

M