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wHrEYFREwo, WEDNES»AYFEZRUARY 4,1990,PAGE 17'- Buyer's market for homes It's a great tim te, buy a home i) urham Reghin according to John Coulter, premident of the Qshawa and Disteit Real Estate Boeard. RiMght nw we have a large siipply of ail types of affrdale housing on the maiket,"ý Co,Ïýadded that the average price forlâ~ home inx Metroplitan Toronto is $278,000, compared with *186,000 for ail areas served' by the Oshawa. and District Real EsaeBoard. ."That makes us the most affordable area inx the outlying regions." Statistics from the Oshawa and District Real Estate Board show a record nûmnber of listings for the month ot 'January. Listiuias were Up 92 per cent compared with January 1989. While the number os sales in January were down 45 l'laii ir a Per cent actual volume sales were $56-niilHon surpassing 1989 figures. With a large .inventory of housing, Coulter believes buyers may find that, sellers are more fleible with pricing and closing dates. Althougih January ' t ff te a. slow start, Coidter is optimistie, that market*activity in the next few months will be strong. "We have already noticed an upswing in buyer activity," ho said. lxx 1989eýý, eOshawa and DistictRea Estate Board increased its membership hy 24 Per cent. The board represents more than 1,500 licensed real estate Practitioners in Ajax/Pickering, WVhitby, Oshawa, Bowmanville, Courice and Port Perry. ~1rI1M< blil11 Private rail sy stem propose A proposed private rail net- work that wouId serve 'Durham Region has drawn a mixed reac- tion from local politicians. With one exception, most poi ticians- surveyefd by the Free- Prosa are taking a cautious approach to fast week's announcement of a $30,000 feasi- bility study inte a <jrivate rail systom for southern Otro. Durham Re *on will contribute upto $ 00 oa study nf private ril service on the former TorontoHavelock Via lino. 'The system, called Canadian Commuter Rail, would provide train service te somo of the communities affected by last month's Via-Rail cutbacks. The passenger association of Via's, former Toronto-Peter- borough-Havelock lime is behind the study Thyhve persuaded Bombar- dier bic. of Montreal, a manufac- turer of passenger rail cars, to, seriously considor taking over some Ontario routes shoulId the study's fidin g provejositive. "I think it'. an abolutely great ides," said MI> Rêne 8ofees, mi have no doubt that a private operater can .provide a botter service than Via did." Sootens is certain the study will flnd that a privately-ru systemn can make a profit, offer botterservice and at pries. that Winl atact rider. '2v h Via there"were a lot of built-~ codas that were flot prac- ticalthere was a lot of ineffi- ciency ithe systemn.» Blaming both "union con- tracta" and "archaic manage- ment" for Viads problems, Soo- tens says a "mocdemn, efficient service" will ho successful. FelIow Tory, Durham MP Ross Stevenson is not quite as opti- mistic. "Mf the private secter can do it on its own and at a profit, that's wonderful, but I dont know of anY rail system i the world thats running at a profit right now.'o tlI Steson is prepared té "doai Ican" to aist any potential buyer Ho noted that when Transport Minuster Benoit Bouchard announced the cuts Isat year, the gedo ov~ernmnt was pre- Lo take over the linos." MPP Aian Furlong agreod that any proposaI -mut bo Iooked at, but if Via couldnWt make it work, it may not ho feasible. "It may ho cheaper te mrn GO trains on it (abandoned routes) but I cant see- us (Ontario governmenit) picing it up.» The proposed network would initially involve five routesý,in- cluding two throuaJx Durham. It would provide Monday to Friday service from Tormmes SEE PAGE 19 ~\ CORPORATION 0F THE )4TOWN 0F WHITBY WHITBY. TRANSIT NOT 1C Effective Monday, February 26. 19909, EVENING SERVICE wiII be revised as follows: - Existing regular service wiII be cancelled on: - Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday, Friday 720 P.M. 720 P.M. - 9:00 P.M. - 11:00 P.M. Effective Monday, February 26, 1990 , a Shuttie Express" service wiI be provided from the Whitby GO Train Station. A bus wiII bu waiting after the 20.04, 21.04, 22:04, 23.04, 00:04, 1:04 train amrvals to take passengers to the transit stop nearest their destination. Drop offs wiiI bu made in a clockwise direction starting on the west side of town. This service wiII also make pick ups at the Whitby Hospital at 20:00 (8:100 p.m.) and 21:00 (9.00 p.m.). This service wiII bu provided Monday to Saturday. If you have any questions reardingti evcpes al htyTasta 6-5803. f.. . L R.F KLJWAHARA, P. Eng. ~~ Dirc»YPbIic Works m UXBRJDGE ARTIST9 Lynne Mcflv. ride Evans wiil be showing her mixed media paintings at the Whitby Public Library liebruary 5 to March 3. Whitby Fr.. Prom. - Scott Laurlo photo M I 1 1