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What are the three most important things to think about when you are looking to buy a home? Location, location, location! It’s an old saying, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t true! If you are looking for a home in an area that is close to the big city, yet still has a small town feel, that is growing, and that offers good value for the money then you might be looking at a number of Whitby homes in the near future.

Whitby is a town east of Toronto that offers many things you would expect in a suburb. It is a good place to raise a family, has a great park and trail system, easy access to major highways, train stations, and a respectable public transportation system. The schools typically perform above the provincial average and the community is becoming more and more diverse.

Whitby homes offer many different housing options. From highrise condos, condo townhome, large 5 bedroom two storey homes, bungalofts overlooking green space, starter homes and everything in between. Prices vary of course, but weather you are looking to spend $200,000 or over a million there is something to fit everyone.

In the north end of Whitby you’ll find the hamlet of Brooklin, which is almost like a little town of its own, although the homes there are still Whitby homes as well. Brooklin has existed for years, but only in the last 10 years or so has it had a real explosion of building. This has been in part due to the growth of the area in general, but even more so to do with the 407 ETR highway. This is a toll highway that runs from the north side of Toronto in the west through to the area west of Brooklin. If it wasn’t for the 407 I’m sure Brooklin would still be a sleepy little hamlet instead of the teaming with life area that it is right now.

If you’re looking at Whitby homes either in the north Brooklin area, the area surrounding the quaint downtown area or the Port of Whitby area you can’t go wrong. Whitby is a town with much to offer, but don’t tell too many people, I want to take advantage of the reasonable property price now before the masses find out what I already know.

At the beginning of every year we look forward, but can’t help looking back to what has happened in the previous 12 months. It was a good year for real estate in Durham and we saw both sales and sale prices rise over 5%.

If you’re are interested in what that average price of real estate was in Oshawa, Whitby, Bowmanville or any other part of the region take a look at the graph below.

I’ve also taken a look at how these deals were distributed throughout the region… which as you may expect seems to be closely tied to population with Oshawa, Whitby, and Ajax holding the majority:

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The DRAR Blog has Moved!

DURHAM REGION, July 6, 2011 – The Durham Region Association of REALTORS® reported 1,046 sales for the month of June, a slight increase from 1,040 in May. This represents a 13.7% increase from June 2010 when there were 920 sales.

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DURHAM HOMES ARE IN DEMAND

The first time home buyer land transfer tax (LTT) rebate is out of date. Due to increasing home prices, the rebate no longer covers the average LTT bill for first time home buyers. Instead, they pay almost $1,500 in LTT after receiving the rebate

Link:
REALTORS®: A FAIR LTT REBATE FOR FIRST TIME HOME BUYERS

DURHAM REGION, June 3, 2011 – Durham REALTORS® reported 1,040 sales for the month of May, an increase of 9.6% over last month and represents a small increase of 1.3% over May 2010. The average selling price in Durham Region for May was $316,057 down slightly from last month when we saw an average selling price of $321,042. However, when looking at the historical data, the average selling price of houses in the Durham Region has been steadily increasing over the last 5 years

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Spring Market Starts to Bloom

DURHAM REGION, June 2, 2011 – The dream of home ownership in the province of Ontario is alive and well.

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REALTORS® URGE CANDIDATES TO STRENGTHEN HOME OWNERSHIP

  But majority of Ontarians concerned that home ownership will be more difficult in the future TORONTO, April 20 /CNW/ – The dream of home ownership is alive and well among Ontario renters, with 70 per cent reporting that they would like to buy at some point in the future, according to a poll released today by the Ontario Real Estate Association (OREA). However, the poll also revealed that 81 per cent of Ontarians believe it is more difficult to own a home now than it was for their parents, and 89 per cent of Ontarians in general are concerned that home ownership will become even more difficult in the future.

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Dream of home ownership alive and well in Ontario

  DURHAM REGION, April 5, 2011 – The Durham Region Association of REALTORS® reported 981 sales of homes during March, a 5% increase from 653 sales in February and is only down 1.1% from 1110 sales in March of 2010 when consumers were concerned about purchasing before the HST was implemented.

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Spring Market Heating Up

DURHAM REGION, March 8, 2011 –Home sales in Durham Region climbed by 29% from 505 in January to 653 in February reported Dierdre Mullen, President of the Durham Region Association of REALTORS®. This still represents a reduction of 20% from 819 sales in February of 2010 when there was a rush on to purchase before the implementation of HST.

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Steady Spring Market