Calgary quadrant's showing staying power with price resilience

Northeast Calgary bucked housing trends in the city in 2015 by seeing strong price increases in the resale residential market, as opposed to others where prices remained flat or dipped, according to CREB®.

And some in the industry expect the still-relatively affordable offerings in the city's "new north" may continue to make it the darling of this year's even tougher market.

CREB® numbers show the annual benchmark price (the price of a typical home year-over-year) in the northeast rose 7.05 per cent for detached homes in 2015. When attached and apartment units are included, the rise was 6.21 per cent.

By the numbers

Canada's central bank carries out monetary policy by influencing short-term interest rates. It does this by raising and lowering the target for the overnight rate, which is the interest rate at which major financial institutions borrow and lend one-day (or "overnight") funds among themselves. Not surprisingly, the overnight rate has a strong impact on the rates Canadians get from their lending institutions when they save or borrow money.

To help the average Canadian get a better grasp on the overnight lending rate, CREB®Now presents some of the key numbers.

CREB®Now sits down with Amelia Martin, Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta

Apartment-style condos often represent an entry point for homeownership to many Calgarians. As such, many of these first-time buyers will have questions before making one of the most important buying decisions in their life.

CREB®Now recently sat down with Amelia Martin, executive director for the Centre for Public Legal Education Alberta, to get answers on everything from how to review a condo board's documents to knowing your rights as an investor.

CREB®Now: ?CPLEA recently unveiled a new resource (condolawalberta.ca) to help Albertans navigate through the buying and selling process. What are some of the common questions and concerns that this resource hopes to address?

Industry welcomes influx of rental units coming on stream

An increase in the number of purpose-built rentals coming onto the market over the next few years is good for Calgary and the communities they reside in over the long run, say experts

According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp.'s (CMHC's) Fall 2015 Rental Market Report for Calgary, 1,216 apartment rental units were under construction as of September 2015, a 53 per cent increase from the year before.

This comes after purpose-built rental apartments increased for the second consecutive year in 2015. CMHC reports 865 purpose-built rental units came on the Calgary market in 2015, bringing the total number of such units in the city up to 35,227.

The art of selling your home quickly

What separates a home that sits on the market for months from one that's sold in a week? Industry experts say it comes down to properly executing proven strategies and techniques.

Calgary-based real estate agent Christina Hagerty with Re/Max Realty Professionals, who has been working the industry for more than two decades, said homes that sell quickly in this market tend to have sellers who are willing to do what needs to be done quickly – even if that means cancelling poker night for a last-minute showing.

She added motivated sellers also know the market before they list – meaning they won't waste money on things such as unnecessary pre-sale renovations.

Calgary falling behind on bike-sharing initiatives, say experts

The norm, rather than the exception: that's how cycling advocates describe the future of bike-sharing programs, which, like Car2go, offer a fleet of bikes (instead of cars) to the public for brief-period rental.

According to Google's Bike-Sharing World Map, 977 cities worldwide already participate in such systems.

Calgary is not one of them.

By the numbers

With much of the news coming out of Calgary's commercial market negative, especially for many of those that once toiled away in one of the city's many office towers, the future of downtown Calgary is, in many ways, up in the air. Adding to the uncertainty are several new office towers set to be added to downtown Calgary in the coming months. CREB®Now looks at some of the numbers coming out of Calgary's evolving skyline.

16%
Inversely tied to the declining price of oil, the vacancy rate in Calgary's office market has increased from around six per cent in 2014 to a once unfathomable 18 per cent in 2016, according to commercial real estate firm Colliers International.

CREB®Now presents 'No Guff Gardener' Donna Balzer

Calgary's 35th annual Calgary Home + Garden Show has announced its full list of personalities that will be on hand for this year's show at the BMO Centre.

HGTV star and landscaping expert Carson Arthur, master craftsman André Chevigny of HGTV's Timber Kings, along with Calgary's top gardeners and design experts, will be on hand for this year's edition, as well as more than 650 exhibitors and local vendors.

Also on hand will be Calgary's "No Guff Gardener" Donna Balzer, presented by CREB®Now. A self-described farmer's daughter, army brat and university graduate in horticulture, Balzer co-hosted the award-winning "Bugs & Blooms" segment on HGTV, and answers Alberta-wide garden questions on CBC radio. She is currently a regular communist in CREB®Now.

Highland Park president says lack of communication complicating secondary suites issue

A local community association president says a lack of consultation by at least one member of council is adding to the disconnect between Calgary residents in support of the suites and those on city council who have voted against wider approval.

Highland Park Community Association president Elise Bieche said despite a "large" majority of those in her Ward 4 community who support the suites, Ward 4 Coun. Sean Chu hasn't contacted anyone with the association to gauge their opinion.

"I don't think he's ever surveyed Highland Park. That would be my guess," she said. "Sean has never asked me my opinion on secondary suites or my board's opinion, because my board has actually endorsed our stance on secondary suites. So it's not as though I've gone rogue or there's a disconnect between me and how my community feels on secondary suites."

Provincial levels in fourth quarter steady; up on annual basis

Non-residential construction levels in the province surprised many in the fourth quarter of 2015, remaining relatively flat when compared with the same period the previous year at $2.74 billion, according to Statistics Canada.

"Signs of the economic slowdown are all around us in Alberta, but the one surprising indicator where we have yet to see much downturn is construction activity," said ATB Financial chief economist Todd Hirsch.

"Indeed, if a Martian landed in downtown Edmonton or Calgary today, it might well assume that the province is booming."