Economy

April turned out to be a dynamic month for the housing market in Calgary. Compared to the previous years' figures, resale housing in Calgary experienced remarkable price growth, more than any other city in Canada. In relation to all other major markets in the country, it garnered the largest upsurge in sales.

According to the monthly MLS report provided by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), there was a 10.4% increase in sales in the city for the previous month, totaling 3,003 transactions all in all. The MLS Home Price Index, which tracks home price patterns through several major residential markets, reveals that Calgary witnessed a 6.9% increase in comparison to recent years.

For the month of April, real estate sales have generally declined by…

A construction boom is on the rise again in Calgary this year, as resale figures and new spec homes continues to sell, according to CMHC.

In the January-April period of 2013, the metropolitan area of Calgary saw an increase of 9 percent in construction of new single-family homes, as compared to the similar period of the previous year. According to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, the areas which saw the increase in construction include several satellite communities of Calgary such as Airdrie, Chestermere and Cochrane. In these areas, buyers are often looking for spec homes which are easier to move into as they are already built, rather than having to wait for other homes to be built on site.

The numbers are also showing an increasing trend, with…

The Calgary Real Estate Board released a statement this week commenting on the city's turn into a sellers' market for the first time in over six years.

The entire resale market has been pushed into sellers' territory through a combination of increased demand and reduced listings.

According to the board this not only include single-family homes, but also resale townhouses and condominium apartments.

This demand for Calgary's real estate is bucking trends in the rest of the nation is being fueled by a more favorable working environment. Both employment and wages have been rising with interest rates staying low observed by Ann-Marie Lurie head economist at CREB.

Lurie reminds us that conditions, while favorable, are much different than they used to be six years…

- There has been a 24% population growth over the last ten years. Back in 2002, the population used to be 905,500. It has seen a gradual growth over the last decade.

- According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp, by the end of this year, there will be up to 12,400 units in the Calgary metropolitan area. This marks a remarkable increase of up to 33% dating back to 2011. This rates as the biggest increase in units since the year 2007.

- By April 2012, the population of the city had increased by 30,000 coming up to 1,120,225 residents.

- Companies in Alberta are currently open to recruiting people who are situated outside the Alberta province. With this population increase means the accommodation resources in Alberta will be strained. More people are soon…

Still no change, the Bank of Canada once again held their key lending rate at 1%. Banks therefore are expected to keep their prime rates at 3%.  
 
Global economic growth has evolved broadly as anticipated (i.e. very slowly).  China and India are moving forward but Europe is still mired in recession. This is expected to continue for another two years.
 
Canada is still experiencing economic growth but this expansion is expected to slow down a little more than previously thought.  We are now not expected to fully recover until mid 2015.  This usually means that rates will remain low until then if I'm picking up what the Bank of Canada is laying down.
 
The Bank of Canada announcement ran on for a few pages but the gist of it all was that Canada is moving forward…

From the Calgary Herald:

Call it a seven-figure vote of confidence in Calgary.

The city’s 2013 property assessments reveals a record number of single-family homes valued at $1 million or more, besting the previous high set in 2008.

There are now 9,001 single-family homes assessed at $1 million or more, compared to 7,997 in 2012 — a 13-per-cent increase.

The previous record of 8,262 homes was set during the previous boom, prior to the economic collapse in 2008.

“There’s a lot of optimism still in the economy,” said Mike Wood, a luxury home realtor for ReMax Central. “People are often putting down pretty significant down payments on these properties.”

The number of $1-million condominiums also jumped to 455 in 2013, up from 392 last year, but

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The newest statistics are out, and if you are just thinking about getting in the market as a buyer, you may want to take action before prices continue to climb further.

If you are considering to sell, then the spring of 2013 may be your best opportunity since real estate prices retract in 2008.

January resale housing statistics have shown their best results in sales in Calgary since the boom of 2008. 

The Calgary Real Estate Board reports that MLS sales for the city were up from 1,086 to 1,230 and that the average price for houses has increased by 12.34 per cent to $439,672 from this time last year. To give that some perspective, the average record Calgary real estate sale price was last set in January of 2008 at $413,271.

SIngle-family sales has

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Bank of Canada Governor Mark Carney held the key overnight interest rate steady at 1 per cent on Wednesday, and lowered growth expectations for 2013 citing global and domestic economic challenges.

Carney said Canada's economy experienced more of a slowdown than expected in the second half of 2012, and going forward "economic activity is expected to be more restrained."

 "The Bank now expects the economy to reach full capacity in the second half of 2014, later than anticipated in October," Carney said, reading from the bank's quarterly Monetary Policy Report.

The bank also revised its 2.3 per cent growth estimate for 2013 down to 2 per cent, followed by 2.7 per cent in 2014.

Carney didn't say when the bank expects to raise its

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Calgary real estate market predictions for 2013

This time of the year, we’re often anxiously looking forward to reading the real estate market predictions released by the Calgary Real Estate Board.

This year appears to be a bit unique and perhaps somewhat confusing to some of us as Calgary’s real estate market continues to output more sales and higher real estate values, yet the rest of the country is reporting pessimism left and right to Alberta.

So what is the real scoop?

To make sense of everything, we must keep in mind and emphasize that each geographical area has its own economy and industries which drives the local real estate market.

And most importantly, prices change due to supply and demand of inventory.

So what’s expected to happen with

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By Mario Toneguzzi

CALGARY — Average house prices in Calgary reached a record level in 2012, outpacing the housing boom peak of 2007.

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, there were 21,207 MLS sales in Calgary in 2012 at an average sale price of $428,655, eclipsing the previous record of $423,770 in 2007 when there were 26,611 transactions.

Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB’s chief economist, said the high average sale price was spiked by the high amount of sales in the luxury home market.

“We’ve had a lot more multi-million dollar sales,” she said. “And that really does tend to pull that average price up.”

In 2012, 544 homes sold for more than $1 million each in Calgary. The all-time record for luxury home sales in any month was set in May when

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