Solar has come a long way in Alberta, say experts

When we last saw headlines from Alberta's home solar energy sector, the news was a bit discouraging. But things have changed, and solar power is now looking like an increasingly bright idea.

Back in 2012, University of Alberta professor Andrew Leach analyzed the costs of Enmax's solar panel leasing program and publicized his finding that homeowners who participated would actually pay more for power than those who stayed with a conventional plan.

Enmax concurred, saying the program was aimed at people who had reasons other than economic ones for choosing solar power.

Builders believe buyers will eventually see benefits of sans auto

Condo buyers in Calgary's Beltline will soon see vehicle ownership as a peripheral requirement, but it will still take some time for the current mindset to change, says a developer who brought the notion of "parking optional" to Calgary.

The Beltline – which stretches from 14th Street S.W. to the Elbow River and the rail tracks south to 17th Avenue, plus the Stampede Grounds – is one of Calgary's hottest and most densified communities. And many new condo buildings, first planned several years ago, are just now starting to spring up despite the downturn.

Although the N3 development in East Village received plenty of press recently for not including parking, it was Toronto-based Lamb Development Corp.'s 6th and Tenth project in the Beltline that first brought the concept to Calgary, said president and CEO Brad Lamb.

Out-of-town property market continues to evolve

Canada's recreational property market continues to transform itself, most recently the beneficiary of record-low interest rates, a new wave of retiring baby boomers and a favourable exchange rate, according to a recent survey.

The 2016 RE/MAX Recreational Property Report, which surveyed RE/MAX agents and brokers, noted the low Canadian dollar is having a positive effect on the country's recreational property markets. Canadians, mainly boomers, who bought properties in the U.S. when U.S. real estate prices were comparably low are selling them at a profit and investing in Canadian recreational markets, it said.

The RE/MAX survey signaled out Canmore and Sylvan Lake as two of Canada's top recreational property destinations. It noted retirees seeking an active lifestyle continue to be an important driver of demand in Canmore, where the median price (May 2015 to April 2016) was $533,090.

Calgary's aging sandwich communities seek their place in shifting housing landscape

What's old is new again. It's an apt description of homebuyers' newfound interest in Calgary's sandwich communities – those not-quite-inner-city neighbourhoods that long outgrown their suburban roots.

Built along what was then the city's outskirts starting in the late 1950s, these detached-heavy communities such as Thorncliffe, Huntington Hills, Ogden, Winston Heights, Albert Park, Fairview and Kingsland represented optimism and prosperity synonymous with the post-Second World War era.

Fast-forward several generations later and upwardly mobile generation-Xers and millennials are returning to their birth places, attracted by location, ample amenities and familiarity.

Former CREB® president Corinne Lyall focused on different drivers behind housing market in 2015

Corinne Lyall is all too familiar with many of the challenges currently facing homebuyers and sellers in Calgary. She served as CREB®'s president just last year when the economic downturn was arguably at its strongest, is currently past president on the board of directors for the real estate member organization and is broker at her own firm Royal Lepage Benchmark.

Yet her message today is the same as it was when she had the gavel in hand: real estate is personal.

Suburban office vacancies encouraging landlords to be flexible

Calgary's downtown office vacancies might have been getting all the attention so far this year, but commercial real estate experts point out it's not alone as the city's suburban office market continues to experience similar challenges.

"We're in the doldrums right now," said Ian Robertson, associate specializing in the suburban office market for Barclay Street Real Estate. "There's too much space chasing too few tenants. So it's a bit of a malaise.

"We saw this coming. It took a while for landlords or the market to accept what was happening. But now we accept the reality of where we're at."

Workshops give show attendees opportunities to get hands-on

Under a cloud of ongoing economic uncertainty, more Calgarians are bringing projects around the home ... well, in house.

"There seems to be a resurgence of making. More and more people want to learn how to make things for their homes or as gifts," said Calgary style-and-DIY-expert Lacey Haskell who will be among a handful of local experts on hand for a series of workshops at the 2016 edition of the Calgary Home + Design Show Sept. 22 to 25.

Districts, housing types tell different stories about Calgary's housing market in August

Fewer new listings within Calgary's resale residential housing market continued to moderate price declines last month, according to new statistics.

Yet experts note what's arguably more interesting is how the interplay between new listing levels and prices within the city's districts, and even housing types, are providing consumers with some much-needed intel on their next purchasing decision.

Try a last-minute salad crop

It was well after her neighbour had finished their veggie harvest and late into November last year when my daughter, Chelsie, allowed her son, Cohen, to fulfill his final garden wish of the season.

First, she asked eight-year old Cohen to fill eight more bags of Kale from their patch.

The next morning, when the temperatures crashed and the remaining crop was crisply covered with frosty icing, Chelsie gave Cohen the go-ahead. He bounced high on his trampoline and lept off into the frozen kale patch. The kale cracked into shards on impact, and the still-soft soil broke his fall as he tumbled like a gymnast down the row. You couldn't imagine a bigger smile and a better way to say goodbye to summer.

Opponents decry Rocky View County as CAVE men: 'Citizens Against Virtually Everything'

A far-reaching increase in off-site transportation levy could be a road to nowhere for business, according to a collection of Rocky View County developers and land owners.

Used to fund improvements in the transportation network, generally in subdivisions and new developments, County engineering services have offered a preliminary proposal of a 440 per cent increase in off-site levy over the next four years.