An eventful month in Grand Bend this October

There is a big dig in front of Macs Milk and Back in Time , on Ontario St N ( hwy 21 ). Most of the parking lot is dug up perhaps looking for contaminated soil as this once was a Sunoco gas station .

Earlier this month gale force winds came thru town and quite a number of large trees came down

Just last Sunday  a fire caused by a burning cigarette destroyed most of the back end at Whitecaps, formerly Bikini Bobs and Gordies Beach House before that on the Main Street

SUMMER KEEPS ONGOING

Summer continues in the Bend. With this great weather weekends and weekdays are busy. Lots of bargains in the stores.

This Fall Grand Bend's Famous strip will undergo a facelift and makeover tying it in with the Fabulous Beach makeover last year, enjoyed by many thousands this summer.

Photo is of Police vehicles in front of the Bonnie Doone ( still there) in 1959

The Beach is OPEN and its spectacular !!

The $3.5 million dollar Beach enhancement is completed and open, receiving excellent comments from everyone . Grand bend Beach has also received the Blue Flag designation along with the Grand Bend Harbour and the Port Franks Harbour.

The Grand Opening ceremonies are scheduled for June 30 and on Canada Day, July 1 the usual Fireworks are planned. The Town and beach have been busy this past month and with some consistent warmer weather it will be a great Summer in the Bend;

RE/MAX 2009 Recreational Property Report

Gen X to flex new purchasing muscle in recreational property markets across Canada, says RE/MAX
Mississauga, ON (June 2, 2009) - Generation X purchasers are poised to replace aging baby boomers as the major force in recreational property markets across the country, according to a report released today by RE/MAX.
The demographic shift was noted in the 2009 RE/MAX Recreational Property Report highlighting sales, pricing, trends and developments in 50 Canadian markets. The report found demand from Gen X (those born between 1965 and 1980) has nearly doubled over one year ago. Seventy-four per cent of markets surveyed this year reported a marked trend toward thirty-something buyers snapping up affordably-priced product, ranging from waterfront cottages to resort condominiums, compared to just 40 per cent in 2008.
"After being priced out of most markets for the better half of the last decade, Gen X purchasers now have the financial wherewithal to buy recreational product at virtually every price point," says Michael Polzler, Executive Vice President, Regional Director, RE/MAX Ontario-Atlantic Canada. "Gen X is ideally positioned to pick up any slack in recreational property markets caused by softer demand from baby boomers and retirees. They represent the next wave of recreational property owners in Canada and they know it."
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.....tis the season

Spring is finally well entrenched and Grand Bend is quickly coming alive.

Construction on the $ 3.5 Million dollar Beach enhancement is progressing quickly to meet the June 1 completion date. The picture above shows a new seating area underway at the old turn-around which now will be more of a lay by or drop off area with a new turn-around further south

New and old stores are opening up on the strip. Housing sales are fairly brisk with prices at or just below last years levels. The good news is there are lots of new listings in all areas.

Summer rentals are filling up and only 1 week in July and 3 in August are availble at 44 Walker in the downtown area. For info on that www.grandbend4sale.com/44walker.htm

First Time Buyers Keep it Moving

There's Good News in parts of the Real Estate Market especially for 1st time buyers. Read the following from

Kristine Owram, The Canadian Press on April 15
April 15, 2009 Kristine OwramThe Canadian Press
TORONTO
Real estate experts say low mortgage rates and more affordable homes in many markets are drawing out first-time home buyers in droves, but one independent analyst says the correction in Canadian home prices hasn't been nearly as dramatic as some believe.
Phil Soper, chief executive of Brookfield Real Estate Services, which operates under the Royal LePage banner, said prices are falling and lenders are lowering their rates, making the market more attractive to people looking to buy their first home.
"The uptick in first-time home buyer purchases across the country is quite astonishing,'' said Soper, speaking yesterday at a BMO conference on Canada's housing market.
"Affordability in places like Vancouver has improved for the first time in a very long time.''
BMO senior economist Sal Guatieri said the average mortgage payment has fallen by one-third, or $600, a month from its peak, while average resale home prices have fallen 14 per cent from their highs.
Guatieri said he expects resale prices to fall "moderately further'' this year for a cumulative decline in prices of approximately 20 per cent.
But Peter Norman, a consultant with independent real-estate adviser Altus Group, said the dramatic drops in home prices seen in places like Vancouver, Edmonton and Calgary are the exception rather than the norm.
"This is not a housing adjustment period in Canada,'' Norman said in an interview.
"Certainly, housing demand has slowed down because the economy is the pits, but housing supply has slowed down a lot as well as a result.
"Outside of a couple of submarkets, there hasn't been much of a downward adjustment on price.''
Still, other changes in the market are making this a good time to buy a first home -- as long as the buyer can afford it, Norman said.
"There are a lot fewer of those stories of really rapidly selling houses, bidding wars, all that kind of stuff, so I think it can be a bit more of a sane market for somebody who's trying to buy right now,'' Norman said.
"It may take away some of the anxiety or it may help you make a better decision.''
And most important, overall affordability in the housing market has improved.
"If it wasn't for the recession and the aversion to financial risk that people have right now, it would probably be a very active market and a very good market,'' Norman said.
The Canadian Real Estate Association reported that house prices and sales continued to slide across Canada in February -- the latest month for which data are available -- compared with the same time last year, but activity was up for the first time since September.
The association said resale home prices fell 9.2 per cent across Canada in February to an average of $281,972, while sales fell 31 per cent to 25,373 units, the smallest year-over-year decline since October 2008. Seasonally adjusted sales fell 26.8 per cent.
Meanwhile, the number of homes that traded hands on the multiple listing service, or MLS, was up 8.6 per cent above seasonally adjusted levels in January.

At a time when the government should be helping consumers these brainiacs have hammered another nail in the coffin of the average citizen attempting to cover it up by offering a $ 1000.00 BRIBE.
People will quickly realize that their monthly costs for electricity, natural gas, phone, cable, satellite, internet as well as their already overtaxed automobile gasoline and countless other items that are now only taxed 5% GST ( not +8% PST ) will very quickly use up that BRIBE when they all jump up 8 % more.
The following news release is from the Ontario Association of Realtors

News Release
Sales tax harmonization will hurt resale home market
(Toronto, March 26, 2009) Ontario’s REALTORS® say the McGuinty governments plan to harmonize the GST and PST will add over $2,000 to the cost of a real estate transaction, hurting the resale home market and prolonging the housing industry’s recovery from the current economic downturn.
"Now is not the time to be erecting barriers to homeownership," said Pauline Aunger, President of the Ontario Real Estate Association. "We need consumers to invest in housing to help get our economy going again."
According to the Canadian Real Estate Association, home sales in the province of Ontario were down 29 per cent in February, compared to 2008.
Under a harmonized sales tax (HST), home buyers and sellers will have to pay extra tax on a range of services associated with real estate transactions such as legal fees, moving costs, real estate commissions and home inspection fees. Currently, consumers only pay the 5% Goods and Services Tax (GST) on these services.
"These additional taxes could price some homebuyers, especially first-time homebuyers, right out of the market," explained Mrs. Aunger. "Harmonizing will not help homebuyers in any way."
For a resale house priced at $360,000, a HST could add over two thousand dollars in new taxes to closing costs. In total, a HST will add $313 million annually in new taxes to resale home transactions.
"In the last decade, Ontario’s homeowners have faced a barrage of new costs," said Aunger. "From municipal land transfer taxes to sky rocketing property taxes, homeowners are being pushed to the brink to accommodate increasing demands from government. A harmonized sales tax is yet another cash grab on Ontario’s already overtaxed homeowners."