News

At the Ontario Real Estate Association's 2015 Leadership Conference in Toronto, Londoners took home not one, but two Ontario REALTORS Care Foundation Spirit Awards – one for the Association and one for an individual – in this case, London REALTOR® Mary Johnson.

LSTAR applauds the reintroduction of legislation that will bring fairness to the tax treatment of Ontario REALTORS®. Introduced by Prince Edward-Hastings MPP Todd Smith, the Tax Fairness for REALTORS® Act, 2015 will allow real estate salespeople to use personal corporations. The bill is being co-sponsored by Liberal MPP Mike Colle (Eglinton-Lawrence). LSTAR is urging its Members to visit www.orea.com/cfa to send an email to their MPP in support of the Tax Fairness bill.

Despite record-breaking cold, a total of 535 homes sold in February. "Given that the average number of February sales over the past decade stands at 489, I think it's fair to describe February 2015 as a good, solid month for home sales," says Carl Vandergoot, President of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS®. He cautions against comparing February 2015's activity with that of February 2014. "It wasn't a typical year. The Polar Vortex had home sales in a deep freeze lockdown in January and February 2014. Comparing the two month-over-month would not only be counterproductive, but it would also give a false impression."

2015 was off to a good start with the most home sales for a January since 2007, just prior to the Global Financial Meltdown – a total of 475. January was also the ninth straight month in a row in which area home sales outstripped those of the previous year. "Bear in mind that last year's Polar Vortex put January 2014's home sales in a bit of a deep freeze," cautions LSTAR President Carl Vandergoot. "That's part of the reason this month's figures look so robust."

A total of 475 home sales took place in December, making the last month of 2014 not only the best December since 2006, but also the eighth straight month in a row in which area home sales outstripped those of the previous year.

St. Thomas REALTORS® turned out in force to man Salvation Army Christmas Kettles at their local Walmart, collecting $1,210.91 over a two day period (December 4 and 5). "LSTAR has been organizing REALTOR® Day Kettle Drives in London for four years now," says Jim Holody, President of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS®, "and we're very pleased to see our St. Thomas Members come out in such numbers to support their own Kettle Drive."

Acting on behalf of the St Thomas and Elgin County Members of LSTAR, Earl Taylor, who sits on LSTAR's Board of Directors representing the City of St Thomas, as well as REALTOR® Jim Harris presented Christmas Care Coordinator Andreanna Collins with a cheque for $985, a sum that included a $500 donation from LSTAR, along with a cart full of non-perishable food.

On December 10, 2014, Heather Arnott, Chair of the LSTAR Quality of Life Advisory Group, presented Steve Cordes, the Executive Director of Youth Opportunities Unlimited (YOU) and her fellow LSTAR Director Dan Grantham, Past President of YOU, with a cheque for $5,000. The money is to be used towards outfitting a home and safe haven for young mothers and their babies in the community. “The recent closure of the Bethesda Centre has made it far more likely that these girls and their children might slip through the cracks,” says Arnott. “We don't want to see that happen.” “We are very grateful to Y.O.U. for stepping forward and offering to bridge this serious gap in service,” adds LSTAR President Jim Holody. “It's a worthy project and one we are happy to support.”

On November 27, 2014 the Members of the London and St. Thomas Association of REALTORS® (LSTAR) elected a new Board of Directors. LSTAR is one of Canada's fifteen largest real estate associations, representing 1,550 REALTORS® working in Middlesex and Elgin Counties, a trading area of 500,000 residents.