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MARKHAM Markham makes list of real estate hot spots Homeowners should 'have big, goofy smiles' April 17, 2004 Jeff Mitchell So, you own a home in York Region. You genius. That's the assessment of the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN), an Alberta-based agency that has ranked communities here among the best places to invest in residential real estate in Ontario. "The people who live in York Region should be going around with big, goofy smiles on their faces," REIN president Don Campbell said. "Eight years from now, they're going to look like geniuses. It should be a very good ride for the next few years." While real estate throughout the region has increased in value rapidly and should continue to for the foreseeable future, Markham, Whitchurch-Stouffville, Aurora and Newmarket are singled out as particularly hot spots in the REIN study. It applied criteria, including public transit, community amenities, the average income of residents, housing mixes and vacancy rates, to measure the potential for return on investment. "The good news is, anybody sitting in that area should be smiling," Mr. Campbell said from his Calgary office. "They will see their values increase more quickly than the provincial average." York Region also fared well in a survey of most desirable real estate investment locations prepared for the Toronto Star by Re/Max Ontario Atlantic Canada. Georgina placed fifth in the top 10, followed by Aurora at number 6 and Thornhill in ninth place. Local real estate agent Craig Proctor said even if the current sky-high listing prices don't keep climbing, the recent spike in the market will have lingering effects. "The market's pretty crazy out there right now; we're seeing some unbelievable prices," he said. "This market's got legs." Traditionally, homes are valued according to past performance -- the prices at which homes in a given area have recently sold. But with interest rates the lowest they've been in decades and demand for homes exceeding supply, the old way of doing business has gone out the window, Mr. Proctor said. "In evaluating a home, we'd look in the rear-view mirror to see what's happened," he said. "But the market has been increasing at such a pace, you now have to look at the market and actually build in a price increase." Like many observers, Mr. Proctor believes the market cannot continue its unbridled rise forever. But he's hopeful the boom won't be followed by a bust, the likes of which put real estate in the tank in the early '90s. "I don't know if it's going to drop at any time, but at some time, prices will stop going up," he said. Indeed, some restraint might be necessary to keep first-time buyers from being shut out of the market. That's what happened in the '80s: first-time buyers got priced out of the market. And that kills the cycle." But even if things level off, homeowners need not despair. It's an asset that allows one to hold and prosper. "Real estate is like stocks," Mr. Proctor said. "If you buy and you hold, you'll always be OK." The top 10 communities in which to invest in real estate, according to the REIN study, are:
Posted April 17, 2004 |
