KITCHENER, ON (October 3, 2008) - The local real estate market rebounded in September resulting in a nine percent increase in sales from the previous month for all property types in the Kitchener-Waterloo region. The number of residential sales increased eight percent from August, and fourteen percent from the previous year.

"Even with all of the doom and gloom happening south of the border and the cooling off that is occurring in several major Canadian markets, the Kitchener-Waterloo area continues to go against the trend and produce strong numbers," reports Karen Shartun, President of the Kitchener-Waterloo real Estate Board.

The average sale price for single family-detached residential properties in the Kitchener-Waterloo area increased 2.8 percent, and freehold townhouses saw an increase of 14.3 percent from September of 2007. The average sale price for all residential properties was $253,165 with single family detache dhomes averaging $293,557. The average condominium sale price increased 8.6 percent from August to $171,635.

"Some of the spike in numbers for residential activity can be attributed to an increase in the diversity of housing, along with consumer interest in these types of properties. For instance, the number of freehold townhouses that sold in September increased 89.5 percent from the previous year, with a 57.1 percent increase in the number of condominium units that sold."

The most active segment of our market continues to be between $200,000 and $500,000. This segment accounts for close to 70 percent of all listing and sale activity and on average, there was a 25 percent increase from the previous year in the number of residential sales in this price point for Kitchener-Waterloo.

"Our market remains strong," says Shartun "and while we all expect to see some fallout from the stock market instability, so far that just hasn't happened."