KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ON (February 4, 2009) - Despite deepening economic concerns across the nation, the number of residential properties sold through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in January 2009 increased 23.3 percent from the previous month in the cities of Kitchener and Waterloo.

There were a total of 217 residential properties sold in January for an average price of $243,445 with the average single family-detached property selling for $272,463. While the total number of residential sales in January fell 27.9 percent compared to the 301 residential sales during the same period last year, the average price only decreased 5.2 percent.

"This speaks to the stability of the real estate market in Kitchener-Waterloo," said Ted Scharf, President of the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board. "January is always a slower time of year for real estate sales in Canada, but considering the cold weather, snow, and the continuing economic gloom, we are pretty pleased with this months results,"

There was also some good news by way of the federal budget increasing the amount of RRSP contributions for first-time homebuyers to $25,000 per person. REALTORS® have lobbied on behalf of Canadians for this increase for a number of years, and members of the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board are encouraged that the government has finally responded favorably to REALTOR® efforts. This news should have a positive impact on Canada's first-time homebuyers in the coming months.

In Kitchener and Waterloo there were a total of 663 new residential listings added to the market in January, a decline of 7.7 percent from January 2008, but a whopping increase of 116 percent compared to last month.

The total number of active MLS® listings available through REALTORS® of the Kitchener-Waterloo Real Estate Board at the end of January was 2,793, an increase of 14.7 percent from this time last year.

"While we're still predicting that sales will decrease in 2009, from a historical perspective, the number of January residential sales in 2009 is only slightly off of 2000 results, and the average sale price is second only to last year. We are very confident that the value of home ownership will remain a constant for our region in 2009."