MLS: 1202808

Gross tax 2011: $5,448.33

Remarks: S/S Feb 23rd. Offers pres Feb 29th eve! Open house Sat & Sun 12pm-2pm. Gorgeous newer two story home has 4 bedrms, 3 bathrms, built in 2008. Features open concept living & dining rm & vaulted ceilings. Stunning eat in expresso gourmet kitchen with pull outs, & corner lrg pantry! Cozy family room with picture window! Main floor office or guest room! Lovely fenced backyard with view of the lake. Partially fin bsmt with RIP for 4th bathrm & wet bar! 22x 20 garage all resting on a large lot on quaint cul de sac! Dont delay call today!!

]]> http://www.mrandmrsrealestateonline.com/2012/02/43-tamarisk-cove-419900/feed/ 0 http://www.mrandmrsrealestateonline.com/2012/02/86-st-vital-road-239900/ http://www.mrandmrsrealestateonline.com/2012/02/86-st-vital-road-239900/#comments Wed, 22 Feb 2012 15:58:13 +0000 mrandmrsrealestate http://www.mrandmrsrealestateonline.com/?p=852 Price: $239,900

MLS: 1202732

Gross Tax 2011: $2,589.87

Remarks: S/S Feb 23, Offers Feb 28th eve! Open house Saturday and Sunday 2:30-4:30pm. Your going to love all these upgrades… just move in and enjoy this modernized home! Newer electrical 08, furn 07, c/air 07, win 07, hwt 09, dryer 08, frig stove washer 07, No disappointments here.. gleaming hwd flrs, fresh paint, remod kit & bath, finished bsmt large yard & oversize garage!! Dont delay call today!!!

MLS: 1202380

Gross Tax 2011: $4,897.64

Remarks: Build your dream home on prestigious Christie Road. Beautiful treed park like setting on approx 4.5 acre lot on the river. Possible sub-division into + or – 2.5 acre and a + or – 2 acre lot. Bungalow in need of updating but has solid foundation and good size. Full basement, unfinished. Original hardwoods, attached double garage, nice big windows that provide gorgeous views of property and loads of natural light. Beautiful view of the river. Don’t miss out on this one. Call for more info on the survey.

Interestingly enough, some of the real star performers of last year relate to property type, dropped off in the first month this year in comparison to activity the same month a year ago. Sales of single-attached were off 25% while condominiums dropped 16%. And vacant lots and mobile homes both decreased 8%. The saving grace was the 4% increase in single family homes which accounts for the lion’s share of all MLS® sales. For example in 2011 this dominant property type comprised 74% of all MLS® sales.
 
Rural sales in particular stood out in January as represented 29% of all single family home sales.

 
January MLS® sales were down just 2 properties (564/566) while dollar volume was up 7% ($133.3 million/$124.5 million) in comparison to the same month last year. New listings entered on the MLS® in January of 1,045 were off 8% from January 2011.
 
“We do not read a lot into one of our slowest months of the year,” said Shirley Przybyl, president of WinnipegREALTORS®. “It is fair to say however that is does track well in line with our 2012 MLS® forecast where we predict MLS® sales holding the line with last year’s 13,000 plus  performance and that dollar volume will still move up higher due to tight market conditions remaining firmly entrenched in 2012.” She added, “The extremely low interest rate environment will continue to be a real incentive for first–time buyers to get into the housing market.”
 
The most active residential-detached price ranges were almost evenly divided amongst three between $150,000 to $299,999. Together these sales represented 51% of total sales. Close behind the three price ranges was $100,000 to $149,999 with 15% of total sales. Condominium sales were a different story with only one price range from $150,000 to $199,999 making up 43% of all sales.
 
The average days on market to sell a home in January was 42 days, 2 weeks slower than last month and the same pace as January 2011. The average days on market for condominium sales was 35 days, 2  weeks slower than last month and 3 days quicker than January 2011.

Gross Tax 2011: $3,084.52

Condo fees: $278.78 Includes: Contribution to Reserve Fund, Insurance-Common Area, Landscaping/Snow Removal, Management, Parking, Water

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) said today there were 348 single- and multi-family starts recorded last month in the Winnipeg Census Metropolitan Area, which includes Winnipeg and 10 neighbouring municipalities.

That was nearly triple the 122 recorded in January of last year, with both sides of the new-homes market contributing to the surge. CMHC said single-family starts jumped by 18.3 per cent to 136 units from 115 a year earlier, while the number of multi-family starts soared to 212 units from a mere seven.

“This represents the fourth consecutive month of year-over-year increases (in single-family starts),” said Dianne Himbeault, CMHC’s senior market analyst for Manitoba. “The favourable weather has allowed single-detached builders to maintain their momentum into 2012.”

Himbeault said multi-family housing is also maintaining its momentum in the new year, with demand coming from Winnipeggers looking for rental housing and first-time buyers and empty-nesters looking for condominiums.

Nationally, it was a much different picture last month, with the pace of Canadian housing starts slowing slightly, mainly because of sharp decreases in Quebec and Atlantic Canada.

CMHC said the seasonally adjusted annual start rate of starts for Canada was 197,900 units, down from 199,900 units in December.

The seasonally adjusted figure attempts to smooth out monthly variations and calculates an annual total as if the January rate continued for 12 months. The actual number of units begun in January was 12,950.

Eli Manning is the big man in the NFL after one-upping Tom Brady and leading the New York Giants to a 21-17 victory over the New England Patriots in Sunday’s Super Bowl — in older brother Peyton’s house, at that.

“This isn’t about one person,” Manning insisted. “This is about a team coming together.”

A team led by a quarterback who months ago claimed — to snickers throughout the league — that he belonged in the same stratosphere as Brady, and then proved it.

Just as Manning did four years ago when the Giants ruined New England’s perfect season, he guided them 88 yards to the decisive touchdown, which the Patriots didn’t contest as Ahmad Bradshaw ran six yards with 57 seconds left.

“Certainly Eli has had a great season. He made some great throws in the fourth quarter, and they deserved to win,” Brady said.

They got some help from Patriots coach Bill Belichick, whose late-game risk didn’t turn out as he planned. Belichick reasoned the Giants would run the clock down and kick a short field goal, so he gambled by allowing the six points.

The ploy failed.

“Ball was inside the 10-yard line, a 90 per cent field goal conversion,” he said. “Sure, could have done a better job in a lot of things.”

Manning did everything asked of him in the final minutes, a habit for the eight-year veteran. He’s beaten the Patriots in two thrilling Super Bowls. The Giants (13-7), who stood 7-7 in mid-December, now own the football world, and Manning owns two Super Bowl MVP awards, the same number as Brady.

It was a classic quarterback showdown with the outcome in doubt until the last desperation pass fell to the turf as the last second ticked off the clock. Manning started the game with nine straight completions, a Super Bowl record; Brady hit 16 straight over the second and third quarters, breaking Joe Montana’s Super bowl record of 13.

Manning finished 30 for 40 for 296 yards and one touchdown, while Brady was 27 for 41 for 276 yards with two TDs and one interception.

“It’s been a wild game, a wild season,” Manning said.

Manning led six comeback victories during the season and set an NFL record with 15 fourth-quarter touchdown passes. He showed that brilliance in the clutch on the winning drive, completing five passes, starting with a sensational 38-yard sideline catch by Mario Manningham.

On second down at the Patriots six-yard line and with only one timeout remaining, Belichick had his defence stand up as Bradshaw took the handoff. Bradshaw thought about stopping short of the end zone, then tumbled in untouched.

“I was yelling to him, ‘Don’t score, don’t score,’” Manning said. “He tried to stop, but he fell into the end zone.”

Brady couldn’t answer in the final 57 seconds, although his heave into the end zone on the final play fell just beyond the grasp of lunging All-Pro tight end Rob Gronkowski. New England (15-4), winner of 10 straight since a loss to the Giants in November, was done.

Brady headed off with his head bowed, holding his helmet, still one short of the record four Super Bowl victories by Terry Bradshaw for the Pittsburgh Steelers and Montana for the San Francisco 49ers.

“Certainly it wasn’t one play that was the reason we lost,” Brady said. “Everybody feels they could do a little more. I’d rather come to this game and lose than not get here.”

All around him was the wild celebration by the Giants, NFL champions for the eighth — and perhaps most unlikely — time.

“Great toughness, great faith and great plays by a number of guys today,” Manning said, deflecting some of the attention. Still, he beat Brady. And he went one better than Peyton, the Indianapolis Colts quarterback who has one ring of his own but didn’t play this season as he recovered from neck surgery.

“It just feels good to win a Super Bowl. It doesn’t matter where you are,” Manning said.

It was the fifth trip to a Super Bowl for Brady and Belichick, tying the record. And it looked like a successful one when they stormed back from a 9-0 deficit and led 17-9 in the third quarter. But the Giants, who reached New England territory on every possession except a kneeldown at the end of the first half, got field goals of 38 and 33 yards from Tynes. And it looked like Tynes, who kicked them into the Super Bowl four years ago at Green Bay and again this year at San Francisco, both in overtime, would get called on again.

Then Belichick, known to try just about anything in a game, took a risk that didn’t pay off.

The Giants are the first Super Bowl winner that was outscored during the regular season. They were 6-2 after that 24-20 victory at New England, then lost four straight and five of six.

Coach Tom Coughlin insisted “the prize” was still within reach. Now the Giants are holding tight to that Vince Lombardi Trophy.

“What I was concerned with was these guys making their own history,” Coughlin said. “This is such a wonderful thing, these guys carving their own history.”

Coughlin got his own piece of the record book as the oldest coach, at 65, to win a Super Bowl.

It was the Giants’ fourth Super Bowl championship, more than any franchise except Pittsburgh with six and San Francisco and Dallas with five, and they became the first team to finish the regular season 9-7 and win the title.

New England had the ball for all of one play in the first 11 1-2 minutes, and that play was an utter failure, a rare poor decision by Brady. After Steve Weatherford’s punt was downed at the New England six-yard line, Brady dropped to pass in the end zone and had time. With everyone covered and Giants defensive end Justin Tuck finally coming free to provide pressure, Brady heaved the ball downfield while still in the pocket.

Only problem: No Patriots receivers were anywhere near the pass. The Giants were awarded a safety for Brady’s grounding in the end zone.

Manning, meanwhile, couldn’t have been more on target early, hitting six receivers in the first period. He also was aided by Ahmad Bradshaw, who hardly looked like a running back with a bad foot. Bradshaw broke a 24-yard run, and New England made another critical mistake by having 12 men on the field on a third-and-3 on which the Giants fumbled.

Instead, New York got a first down at the six-yard line, and two plays later Victor Cruz beat James Ihedigbo on a slant to make it 9-0, prompting Cruz to break into his signature salsa move.

Manning’s first incompletion didn’t come until 1:19 into the second quarter.

At that point, it was 9-3 after Stephen Gostkowski’s 29-yard field goal. The Patriots got to the Giants’ 11, but All-Pro defensive end Jason Pierre-Paul blocked a third-down pass.

Soon after, when the Patriots had a three-and-out and Pierre-Paul blocked another throw, Belichick and offensive co-ordinator Bill O’Brien had a quick discussion. Then O’Brien, soon to take over as Penn State coach, went over to the struggling Brady.

The talk must have helped. On the final series of the opening half, Brady was masterful. Starting at his four-yard line, and ignoring the last time the Patriots began a series in the shadow of the end zone, he was vintage Brady.

With New York’s vaunted pass rush disappearing, Brady went 10-for-10 for 98 yards, capping the drive that included two Patriots penalties with Woodhead’s four-yard TD reception with eight seconds to go in the half. Hernandez and Woodhead each had four catches on the drive that, stunningly, put New England ahead despite being outplayed for so much of the first 30 minutes.

Brady kept firing — and hitting — in the third quarter, with five more completions. The Giants didn’t come within shouting distance of the record-setting quarterback. He capped a 79-yard drive to open the second half with a 12-yard TD to Hernandez, but then the game turned. Again.

Consecutive field goals by Tynes of 38 and 33 yards brought New York within 17-15. Brady then threw deep for his tight end after weaving away from two pass rushers. His throw was short, and Chase Blackburn picked it off early in the fourth quarter.

Although the Giants moved into New England territory again, as they did on every drive to that point, they bogged down and punted.

In the end, though, New York made the critical plays, just as it did in 2008. With Manning in the lead.

“Two hundred and twenty-eight countries just saw Eli,” running back Brandon Jacobs said. “I don’t have to say anything.”

Gross Tax 2011:$2,183.51

Remarks: Showings start now. Offers presented as received. Charming country beauty. Here is your chance to own a great home at a reasonable price in the delightful town of St. Malo. This well loved home sits on a double lot. Open concept with vaulted ceilings. Main floor is 936 sq ft with a fabulous bonus family room above the garage for an additional 520 sq ft. Bright kitchen and dining area overlooking the spacious living room with gas fireplace. There are 2 bedrooms plus a storage/laundry room. Super 3 season sunroom off the kitchen with spectacular views of the massive yard. The yard has been lovingly maintained with perennials. There is a large south facing cedar deck, great for entertaining. The home also has a insulated double garage with a single door and a large storage shed.

Seven Oaks is also looking at an increase of seven per cent in school property taxes — and other school divisions are also crunching numbers that will likely lead to big tax hikes.

Education Minister Nancy Allan’s funding announcement Monday was “not good news for school divisions,” WSD finance chairwoman Kristine Barr warned Tuesday.

“If we want to continue all our programs and services, we could be looking at some significant tax increases,” Barr said. “We’re looking at tax increases of 8.5 per cent.”

The average home in the province’s largest school division is assessed at a value of $150,000 after the latest province wide reassessment.

Barr said Allan’s funding announcement left WSD with exactly the same operating grant as last year, even though there has been phenomenal growth of 970 students so far this school year through immigration.

“It’s a zero per cent increase for us — it’s exactly the same as we got last year, even with all these kids,” Barr said. “We were disappointed with this funding announcement.

“We thought we’d be seeing more.”

Allan announced Monday the province will increase operating grants for the 2012-2013 school year by $25.5 million, or 2.2 per cent on the province’s share of funding public education. That percentage increase, however, could be different for each of the 37 divisions after they calculate their numbers.

Allan also killed the tax incentive grant, which the NDP had offered for the past four years to divisions that agreed to freeze their school property taxes.

The result is, school trustees will have to figure out how to cover about $50 million in spending increases that would normally be needed to maintain the status quo in jobs, programs and services.

“We’re facing increased costs, not just through our increased enrolment,” Barr said. The division accepted the TIG three of the past four years, said Barr, but freezing taxes meant cutting planned spending, and now WSD needs to catch up, especially on aging infrastructure.

“We have buildings that are crumbling,” she said.

Seven Oaks superintendent Brian O’Leary said the province was more generous to his division, but, “We’re still looking at a six or seven per cent tax increase.

“We’re still in a division with virtually no commercial assessment and enrolment growth of four per cent,” he said.

The provincial grant will increase 5.6 per cent on its share of the Seven Oaks budget, but draft spending is at a seven per cent increase to meet soaring enrolment of 400 students, O’Leary said.

River East Transcona trustees were to meet Tuesday night to hear numbers from their staff, but board chairman Peter Kotyk said the province’s second-largest division had never received much benefit by accepting the TIG. It was penalized for being a low spender, he said.

“The divisions that spent more, received more,” said Kotyk, who said River East Transcona needs to concentrate on improving student achievement.

St. James-Assiniboia superintendent Ron Weston said trustees will make their draft budget public Feb. 24.

Pembina Trails superintendent Lawrence Lussier said Tuesday it’s premature to talk about the effect on the division’s budget.

Here’s a statistic — courtesy of WinnipegRealtors’ market analyst and director of public affairs, Peter Squire — that puts just how hot the market is into perspective.

“It took us 99 years to reach one-billion dollars in sales in 2002,” he said at WinnipegREALTORS’ sixth annual forecast breakfast Jan. 25. “Nine years later, this milestone has tripled. Winnipeg, thanks to an increasingly hot real estate market over the past nine years, is now a three-billion-dollar MLS market.”

A banner 2011 — marred only by slow sales in April, the result of flooding — reinforced the fact the Winnipeg market isn’t about to slow down any time soon.

“Overall, we were just 14 sales shy of topping our best year, 2007. Sales volume was highest in June at $368 million, while the only month down in volume was April,” reported Squire. “And our summers are no longer sleepy, as sales volume was strong through the entire summer, right into September.”

As for sales hot spots, the most active areas included St. Vital, Fort Rouge and Transcona, where sale prices routinely went above the average list price. One area that rated as a very pleasant surprise was Steinbach, where sales volume increased dramatically.

“Rural areas have really come on in the last few years, none moreso than Steinbach. Last year, there were over 500 home sales there,” he said. “The area there is booming, so we expect sales volume to be strong in 2012, too.”

With it still being a sellers’ market due to high demand and a relatively low inventory level, it’s not surprising home prices increased in 2011. Whereas the average price in 2010 was $241,743, that figure shot up just over $15,000 in 2011 to $256,748.

That increase can be attributed to several factors that have put resale homes in high demand, added Squire.

“International migration has been a huge driver. With our low apartment vacancy rate, people who couldn’t find an apartment then looked to buying a home, whether it be a single-family detached home or a condominium,” he said. “About 76 per cent of sales were residential detached homes, while more than 1,600 condominiums were sold in 2011. It’s a trend I see continuing, it’s just a matter of supply.”

Several other factors will also contribute to what figures to be an active 2012, as sales figures in January have been strong.

“More people are coming to the province, while interest rates are expected to remain low through 2012,” said Squire. “Manitoba’s economy is solid and the jobless rate is low, which should also keep sales strong. Other things like new construction and the Winnipeg plan, which will encourage and facilitate more development, should also help.”

However, 2012 figures may not be quite as robust as 2011, a near record year.

“It’s going to be difficult to top such a strong year. Still, our forecast is for home sales to go up zero to two per cent, with home prices increasing by three to five per cent and condominium prices going up by two to four per cent,” he said. “We’re also predicting that total volume will be up four to six per cent. The only cautionary note is that debt and deficit issues by all levels of government, as well as global (economic) uncertainty could influence those numbers downward.”

With the Winnipeg Jets back in the fold, and a new stadium for the Blue Bombers and IKEA coming in the near future, Winnipeg now finds itself in an exciting new category, said Squire.

“We’re a major league city with affordable housing. As a city, we’re ready for takeoff,” he concluded.