Great Lakes Water Level Update

This past week members of the International Upper Great Lakes Study group held public meetings in Collingwood and simultaneously in Mequon, Wisconsin for the purpose of providing an update regarding the fluctuating water levels in the upper Great Lakes.
Between living in Collingwood and owning a cottage on Manitoulin Island, this marks the 56th summer that I have spent time on Georgian Bay and Lake Huron . During this time frame I have seen it all from the record low water levels of the mid 1960's when I was a kid to several years in the late 1980's when there was no shoreline at all in some areas due to abnormally high water levels. It should be noted that Lakes Michigan and Huron and the only two of the five Great Lakes that do not have a mechanism to control the outflow of water which exits at will down the St. Clair River.
During the past two years over 100 scientists in Canada and the U.S have been studying the St. Clair River system between Lakes Michigan-Huron to Lake Erie. Many people myself included have held the belief that the deepening of the St. Clair River stemming from dredging in 1963 to accommodate larger freighters through the St. Lawrence Seaway and subsequent erosion of the river bed has increased the outflow of water thus depleting the levels in Lakes Michigan and Huron which of course includes Georgian Bay. Preliminary results from these studies tends to downplay the increased flow rate of the St. Clair River which has raised the ire of many including the Georgian Bay Association which commissioned its own study known as the Baird Report.

Current water levels in Lakes Michigan, Huron and Georgian Bay are up approximately 9" over last year which is encouraging. According to the most recent studies, the St Clair riverbed has been stable with no further evidence of erosion resulting in no increased outflow from these bodies of water since 2000. It was also emphasized last week, that the area surrounding Georgian Bay has experienced a significant amount of glacial isostatic adjustment which is the rebounding of the earth's crust after the melting of the glaciers that covered this area some 10,000 years ago. In essence, the land surrounding Georgian Bay has risen some 4.3 inches since 1963 so it's not so much a matter of the water going down as the land is going up. That's fine but does not explain where the other 30+ inches of water has disappeared to since the late 1980's. Many of those that attended the meeting in Collingwood, were like myself, waterfront property owners. Many expressed their frustration with the fact that there appears to be a classic example of paralysis by analysis going on with countless studies, many of which contradict each other and no action. While the current studies pertaining to the St. Clair River are to be finalized and submitted by October of this year, their position at the present time is that no remedial action should be taken on the St. Clair River at this time. I suspect it will be many years and perhaps not even in many of our lifetimes before any action is taken to control the outflow of water from Lakes Michigan-Huron via the St. Clair River. As such we will no doubt see many years of continued water level fluctuations and perhaps to chronically low levels before action is taken to protect these critical fresh-water resources.

June Real Estate Sales Exceed Prior Year

Following two months of modest yet steady improvement through April and May, area real estate sales in the month of June rebounded significantly. Monthly unit sales reported through the MLS® system of the Georgian Triangle Real Estate Board increased 16% in June versus the same month last year. A total of 206 sales were reported for the month as compared to 177 in June 2008. Of note, sales activity at the upper end of the market has continued to show strong gains. In June, 15 sales were reported between $400,000 and $500,000 whereas in June 2008 there were only 8. In addition, 2 sales were made in June over $1 million compared to none in June 2008, bringing the total of $1 million+ sales for the year to 6 versus 4 in the first 6 months of 2008.

Year-to-date sales to the end of June reflect a 19% drop from the same period last year however the overall trend as reflected in the accompanying graph shows a steady improvement. The number of new listings coming onto the market has declined considerably in recent months. New listings year-to-date total 3,055 properties, a decline of 5% over last year. Expired listings however continue to increase, up 31% of the first 6 months of 2008. The increase in the number of expired listings coincides with the annual year-to-date shortfall in sales although many properties remain over-priced relative to current market values.

Print versus Digitial Promotion

Last week I attended a seminar regarding what is commonly referred to as Web 2.0. Web 2.0 is a variety of connected online initiatives all of which are designed to give today's consumer what they want in terms of news and other information, how and when they want it. If you are reading this blog, my guess is that you obtain much of your day-to-days news and information online. Newspapers across North America and elsewhere are in trouble. Some predict that by 2012, there will be no major print newspapers in the U.S. and the same might be said of Canada. Every morning I receive an email from the Globe and Mail with the day's top news stories. It's not a matter that news is going away, the fact is there is probably more news being generated on a daily basis worldwide now more than ever. What is changing is the way in which news is being delivered, digital versus print.
That being the case, advertisers are abandoning newspapers and other forms of print media, instead redirecting their ad budgets to other forms of promotion most of which is focused online.
We have certainly seen this shift within the real estate profession. Print media has become increasingly ineffective in terms of promoting and selling property. Even the most artfully crafted print ad with multiple photos on glossy paper pales in comparison to what can be accomplished online via virtual tours, photo galleries and more. Many MLS® systems have also been tailored to now permit the uploading of documents such as surveys, aerial photos, well records, brochures etc. and many of us routinely upload these in order to make them available online. The bottom line is that thanks to digital technology more information is now available than ever before and it's available how and when you want it.
If you are contemplating the sale of your home or other property, you would be wise to ask REALTORS® you are interviewing what their online marketing strategy with be. If they can't provide you with a good overview of how your property will be marketed online, then move on and I'm not talking about your furniture. Without a strong online marketing presence, you and your furniture may not be going anywhere, anytime soon.
The same may apply to your particular business, if you are routinely using print media to promote your products or service, what steps are you taking to adapt your promotional and marketing initiatives in the age of the digital consumer? Now is the time to refocus your efforts in synch with what your customers expect. I am a big proponent of this and this blog is just one way in which I provide information to my clients.