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Alan Cochrane
Cochrane Report

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Speak Up

Just in time for the Christmas gift season, local authors will be signing their works and meeting with readers at Cover To Cover Books in Riverview on Saturdays over the next few weeks.

On Saturday, Nov. 29, Leanne Hawkes-Sobeck will be launching her new book Journey To Joy -- A Woman's Guide To Balancing It All, a self-help book which relates her personal journey to wellness. She will be at the store from noon to 2 p.m.

On Dec. 6, Sarah Butland will be meeting readers signing copies of Sending You Sammy, her children's book that both entertains and educates children and adults about childhood obesity. Sarah will also be doing a reading for kids at 11 a.m.

On Dec. 13, Paul Burn and Jennifer Aikman-Smith will be meeting readers and signing copies of their children's book, Owen and the Dinosaur, which is set in Parrsboro, N.S. Paul is the author of this entertaining children's book, and Jennifer provided the illustrations.

All of these books will also be available at Cover To Cover Books before and after the signings, as well as at other bookstores in Metro Moncton. The store is located at 630 Pinewood Rd. in Riverview, next to the Great Canadian Dollar Store.

N.B. author updates book

Fredericton author Peter D. Clark has released another version of his book Golden Memories of New Brunswick to include updated information on hometown baseball hero Matt Stairs.

Through his career in the big leagues, Stairs has played for Oakland, Pittsburgh, Kansas City, Detroit, Toronto and Philadelphia. In 2008, Stairs became only the second New Brunswicker to win a World Series. The other person was Bill O'Neill in 1906 with the Chicago White Sox. Stairs got his start with the Moncton Mets.

Clarke, who has become a well-known storyteller with his series of books about New Brunswick, will be in Moncton tomorrow to speak with students at Hillcrest School, and also plans to have copies of his book available at this weekend's Christmas at the Coliseum show.

N.B. real estate market stays strong

The real estate market in New Brunswick continued to move toward a more balanced position for buyers and sellers with an increase in new listings in October.

The New Brunswick Real Estate Association reported this week that the average MLS residential price in New Brunswick was $135,645 in October, up 3.2 per cent from October of 2007. This was contrary to the national trend, which saw the national MLS average residential price slip by 9.9 per cent in October compared to the same month the previous year.

The average prices reported in Fredericton and Saint John in October were also higher than the provincial average. There were 657 properties sold in October through the Multiple Listing Service of the real estate Boards and Associations in the province, a 17 per cent decline from the number sold in October 2007, which was a record-setting month. The total value of those MLS sales in New Brunswick in October hit $88.1 million, a 14 per cent decrease from total MLS sales volume in October 2007.

The number of residential property sales processed through the Multiple Listing Service in New Brunswick also retracted from last October's record-setting levels.

There were a total of 561 residential properties sold, with a total value of $76 million.

This represents a 17 per cent decrease in the value of residential property sales compared to October 2007. Based on unit sales, activity was highest in Moncton and in rural regions of the province.

"Our real estate market continues to avoid the volatility of markets in other parts of Canada," said Dwayne Hayes, president of the New Brunswick Real EstateAssociation (NBREA).

n The Cochrane Report appears each Wednesday and Saturday. Items for inclusion may be submitted by e-mail to cochrana@timestranscript.com, or by fax to 859-4904.