CREB® points to mortgage rule changes as motivator

For the first time in two years, resale residential housing sales activity in October resembled normal levels, according to a new report.

City-wide sales totaled 1,644 units, which is an increase of nearly 16 per cent over last year, reported CREB® in its monthly housing summary.

"The shift in sales activity this month is likely related to the new mortgage rule changes, inventory gains in the lower price ranges and further price adjustments," said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

$180,000 in grant funding awarded to Calgary and area non-profits

In keeping with its long-legacy of giving, CREB® Charitable Foundation has awarded $180,000 in grant funding to local non-profits selected by REALTORS® through its Investing in HOPE program.

The Charitable Foundation typically awards 15 grants through the Investing in HOPE program, but thanks to the generosity of its board of governors who unanimously agreed to inject an extra $30,000 this year, 18 organizations providing sustainable community solutions, shelter and care will receive a $10,000 grant.

CMHC assessment unchanged from April

Calgary's housing market continues to exhibit signs of over-valuation as economic and demographic fundamentals have altered demand, says a new report.

In its housing market assessment released this week, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. (CMHC) noted moderate signs of over-valuation tag due to labour market conditions that have been weak and the seasonally adjusted unemployment rate averaged 8.3 per cent, up considerably from the preceding 10-year monthly average of five per cent.

It's the second time this year that CMHC has noted problematic conditions in Calgary's housing market, the last time being in April.

Commercial landlords thinking outside of the box in wake of high vacancy rates

Landlords in Calgary's suburban office market continue to display increasing creativity in the face of rising vacancy rates that are not expected to stem any time soon, says a new report.

In a third quarter report issued earlier this month, Barclay Street Real Estate noted the overall vacancy rate in suburban Calgary rose by
1.1 per cent from the second quarter to 22.3 per cent. Research director Anthony Scott attributed the slight increase to the introduction of new inventory that came to market with significant unleased space.

Today's technology is downright frightening

Combine a new technology with the creative mind of a rocket scientist, throw in Halloween and the results are pretty amazing.

When Apple introduced the iPad in 2010, it didn't take long for Mark Rober, a one-time NASA engineer who helped put the Curiosity rover on Mars, to come up with a Halloween costume idea that incorporated it.

For Halloween 2011, Rober showed up to a party wearing a shirt with gaping "bloody" holes ripped into the front and back, and iPads attached to the inside, visible through the holes. By setting up a Facetime video link between the two, he created the illusion of being able to see through his body.

A stroll down haunted lane with Calgary's paranormal experts

Bring out yer dead!

It's Halloween in the city, which means spooks and specters will soon intertwine with sugar and sweets.

It's also a chance for many Calgarians to explore the city's haunted past. CREB®Now recently took a walk down "Elm Street" with local officials, who detailed the paranormal, the unexplained and everything in-between.

Calgary's collection of decades-old malls are getting much-needed facelifts

Consumer demand is driving a wave of commercial real estate development in the city with several major shopping centres poised to get major makeovers this year and next.

Deerfoot Mall in the city's northeast, as well as Northland Village Mall and Stadium Shopping Centre in the northwest, are all in the planning or development stages of redevelopment.

Michael Kehoe, an Alberta-based retail specialist with Fairfield Commercial Real Estate Inc., said the collective changes reflect landlords' attempts to breathe new life into decades-old retail hubs, of which there are plenty in the city.

Experts say new mortgage rules might take some buyers out of the game

Getting into your "ideal" home might be more difficult following the introduction of new federal regulations pertaining to insured mortgages.

Under new regulations introduced this week, all mortgages must be "stress-tested" at the posted rate instead of negotiated rates that have recently been around 2.5 per cent.

Previously, only mortgages with a term less than five years, as well as any variable-rate mortgages, had to qualify at the benchmark rate.

Former CREB® president Bonnie Wegerich remembered challenges, successes in 2009

Bonnie Wegerich can sum up her time as CREB®'s president in 2009 with one word: recovery.

After residential resale housing prices in Calgary reached record highs in 2007, an economic downturn the following year caused prices to drop and sales to halt – a spillover effect that went well into Wegerich's year at the helm.

"In January, we had more sales than in December, and we were very excited about that. That's where we went from. Every month was getting better than it was," remembered Wegerich, a longtime real estate professional who worked and lived in Airdrie.

Former CREB® president Joyce Travis remembered moving beyond 9/11, adapting to circumstances

Four months after devastating terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, 2001, left thousands dead in the U.S., the pain was still palatable – even as far as Calgary.

"Everybody was just shell shocked," said Travis, who, amid that atmosphere of uncertainty, took over as president of CREB®.

In Calgary, the attack led to hesitancy that was manifested, at least early on, by a sluggish housing market. Travis said consumers were reluctant to make major decisions, such as buying or selling a house.