At his new Riverside batch of houses in Ajax, Ont., Craig Marshall is grateful for nature-loving dogs.
"We've had quite a few dogs come out with their owners," says the president of Marshall Homes. "Then they go for a walk afterwards."
The verdant land near a river will accommodate houses with a ravine on one side and a golf course on the other.
"It's one of the nicest sites we've ever had," says Mr. Marshall. "You walk out your door and see a ravine - walk out the front door and see a golf course."
Despite the rare setting, however, sales have been sluggish compared with seasons past. Mr. Marshall had hoped to have the installation of sewers and roads under way by now, but he needs to sell about twice as many units.
At a recent preview, prospective buyers were given the chance to put down a deposit before the sales centre opens to the public. About 20 per cent of the units sold at preview. A year ago, Mr. Marshall would have expected to sell 50 per cent.
To spur sales, he has cut the premium for a ravine-side location by 50 per cent. But still, some nervous purchasers cancelled their agreements during the 10-day cooling-off period that allows buyers to reconsider.
"We had a few more people backing out in the cooling-off period than we would have liked."
At other building sites, Mr. Marshall has cleared out some inventory by listing newly-built houses on the multiple listing service for the first time. The company has sold about five houses this way "since Lehman Brothers" says Mr. Marshall, referring to Sept. 15th when the famed Wall Street investment bank filed for bankruptcy protection in what was the biggest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
"Lehman Brothers is pretty much the day the real estate market stalled," says Mr. Marshall.
But the builder is also fielding more enquiries about custom-ordered houses. The costs of fuel, copper, lumber and labour have all come down, he points out, and clients who have the money are viewing the current downturn as a good time to commission a newly-built house.
Like Mr. Marshall, builders of new houses and vacation properties in Ontario are offering all manner of enticements to keep sales from stagnating.
Near Amherstburg, Ont., Troy Loop was busy before the holidays sending out e-blasts announcing an "inventory clearance sale" of riverside condominium units on Bob-Lo Island in the Detroit River.
The operations manager for Bob-Lo Developments Inc., Mr. Loop was using the e-mail campaign to trumpet incentives that include price cuts, no-interest terms, free ferry passes and no condo fees for the first two years. New programs will start this month, he says.
Bob-Lo, which is marketing housing on the 272-acre island to retirees, has a 10-year plan for the area. In order to get on with building low-rise houses, the company needs to sell the condos.
"We're kind of being tenacious and aggressively putting it out there that we need to get moving."
Bob-Lo is courting auto workers, teachers and average homeowners who aspire to be snowbirds but who might have trouble paying for the air fares, gasoline and insurance costs required to spend the winter months in Florida or Mexico.
"All things said and done, the bottom line is a hell of a lot better on Bob-Lo."
The island in Southern Ontario, Mr. Loop points out, is farther south than parts of California. For people living in Sudbury and North Bay, for example, wintering near the shores of Lake Erie actually seems balmy.
"We're pushing that climate to empty-nesters."
But Amherstburg is about 20 minutes south of Windsor and the entire area has been battered by the high-profile problems at the Big Three Detroit auto makers and other economic woes.
"Our economy is probably a notch worse than the rest of the province because of the auto industry," Mr. Loop says.
Currently Bob-Lo is selling about equally to buyers in Michigan and Ontario. But that's a recent shift with the decline in the U.S. dollar and the worsening economy on that side of the border.
With recent price cuts, a three-bedroom unit that was listed at $312,000 in the fall now has an asking price of $280,000.
Most of the units are selling for between $230,000 and $260,000, says Mr. Loop. The company had sold 30 of 38 before the price cuts and moved another three after that.
East of Toronto, Kaitlin Group opened its new Main Street Brooklin condo project in the fourth quarter of 2008. Out of the starting gate, about 20 buyers signed up for one of the 72 units. But after the mandatory 10-day cooling off period, about five dropped out.
"It's been slow - no question about that," says Kaitlin Group president Bill Daniell of recent weeks.
But Mr. Daniell is seeing a spark of optimism after the company booked a few sales already in 2009 at its projects in Bowmanville and Port of Newcastle.
In Brooklin, prices at the project range from $179,000 to $240,000 for a unit in a three-storey walk-up.
"People still need a place to live and this is entry-level housing," Mr. Daniell notes.
In the past, he says, the entry-level price in the area was about $250,000 for a townhouse.
Mr. Daniell figures that areas outside of Toronto actually do well during a housing downturn because the properties are more affordable.
"If they move 15 minutes down the road, they can get the same house for $150,000 less."
The developer says buyers have low interest rates and lots of choice in their favour, but still they are reluctant to commit. "People are cautious and they're studying things a little bit more."
In Collingwood, Kaitlin Group has a project on Georgian Bay aimed at retirees - a market segment that likes to be on the water or near a golf course, Mr. Daniell says.
"We're still selling houses, but people are taking their time."
Carolyn Ireland