Buying in Breslau

Breslau

Buying a home in Breslau is a great option for homebuyers. Breslau has a lot to offer in terms of homes, location and now that the Breslau Secondary Plan has been approved, future amenities (including a proposed GoTrain Station).

 

A short history of Breslau

Breslau was established by Joseph Erb in 1850 when he built a dam, a sawmill and a grist mill in the area where Hopewell Creek flows into the Grand River. The area already had a church meetinghouse. The village began to prosper as a stop along the Grand Trunk railway line which brought the development of a train station, hotel and general store in the centre of the village.

 

There is only one Breslau

Breslau was named after a former German city of Breslau which is now the Polish city of Wroclaw.  The Potsdam Agreement at the end of World War Two ceded German Breslau to Poland and over the following few years almost all of the Germans fled or were removed to Soviet occupied East Germany.

But that is another story.

 

The past five years

According to Wikipedia, the population of Breslau in 2011 was 2415. Since then, two large subdivisions have begun building hundreds of homes.

Until 2010, Breslau was designated as a “rural area”, which restricts the amount of residential housing to 1250 units. In 2010, Breslau was re-designated as an “urban area” allowing for future growth. However, although the residential areas of Hopewell Heights and the Empire Communities site a little further south got of to a fast and furious start building houses, appeals to the Ontario Municipal Board over concerns of expansion stalled the Breslau Secondary Plan until June of this year.

 

The Breslau Secondary Plan

The Breslau Secondary Plan maps out the long-term growth for the area. The plan describes how land will be used, while still meeting policy requirements, and not alienating present residents. The Breslau Secondary Plan hopes to create a Breslau that is a unique community apart from its surrounding cities. The village of Breslau kind of fell by the wayside as Waterloo and Kitchener began to dominate the Region. Breslau was further affected by the political reorganization of the region when it was moved from Waterloo Township to Woolwich Township in 1972.

Breslau is the fastest growing settlement in Woolwich Township.

The Secondary Plan calls for 493 housing units in Hopewell Heights, 12 units in Ebycrest, 123 units in Central Breslau, 86 units in Elroy Acres and 508 units in Riverland/Mclaughlin.

In terms of transportation, Breslau lies just south of the future new 7/8 to Guelph. The Fountain Street bypass is well established – no longer do you have to drive straight thorough the village.

There are plans for a GoTrain Station. That’s exciting.

 

Everything is twenty minutes away

From Breslau, it is a four minute drive to the airport, about 20 minutes to downtown Guelph, twenty minutes to downtown Galt, 15 minutes to Downtown Kitchener, Uptown Waterloo or the 401.

 

Homes

What is on the market now

There are currently 18 homes on the market in Breslau. They range in price from $278,500 for a 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom townhouse to $559,900 for a 4 bedroom, 4 bathroom, 2657 square foot two storey home with a two-car garage and a finished walk-out basement. That’s dreamy.

The median price of houses for sale in Breslau is $439,900. The townhouse above is an outlier. Knock it out and the next cheapest home for sale is listed for $348,000.

There are actually currently only 3 townhouses for sale in the area. Two are condos. One is a freehold.

 

Year-to-date Statistics

So far this year, 36 homes have sold in Breslau. The selling price ranges from $286,100 for a 50 year old bungalow and $287,000 for a 3-year old townhouse to $735,000 for a 7-year old 2150 square foot bungalow (must be nice).

Seven townhouses have changed hands so far this year. The average price is around $360,000

Two semi-detached homes have sold ($295,000)

The remainder of the sales are all single family dwellings.

The time to sell seems to be consistent with the regional averages.

 

School

Breslau Public School gets better than average rankings over the past five years, according to Fraser Institute. Breslau Public School is a K-8 school with about 600 students. It has grown a lot in the past five years and is building an additional nine classrooms as well as expanding the office area and the library. There is also a new catholic school being built.

 

Issues

I’ve been asked when showing the homes in Breslau to prospective home buyers if noise from the airport is an issue. My past clients tell me that they do not hear the airport but sometime hear the train.

 

Photo credit

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