Three garden tasks you don't have to do this fall

Mowing down your perennials the way you mow your lawn is not the best way to spend your time this fall. If you have your shears in hand, gently place them on the shelf in the shed and take a minute to read this fast-breaking gardening news.

1. There is no need to cut back most perennials in the fall:

Gardeners often cut plants back to within an inch of their life while plants are still green, still blooming or still providing interest. If you cut back green plants, you remove stored energy and weaken plants.

CREB® report singles out changing conditions in apartment sector

Buyer's conditions in the apartment sector are contributing to a continued shift in Calgary's resale residential housing market, which experienced a second consecutive month of price declines in October, according to CREB®.

The local housing agency noted that while overall, new listings in the city did not decline enough to prevent inventory gains and, ultimately, price contractions, the biggest shift continued to occur in the apartment sector.

CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie noted months of supply in that sector have gone from a low of three months in June to nearly six months in October.

Calgary vacancy rates quadruple from last year: CMHC

Calgary's once-cramped rental market has space to spare, and it could have implications for the city's new and resale home sectors.

In its recent fall rental survey, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation's (CMHC) reported vacancy rates in Calgary's rental sector has nearly quadrupled over the previous year, jumping to 5.3 per cent in October from 1.4 per cent at the same time last year.

"The call volume has dropped off considerably in the last 12 months," said Mainstreet Equity Corp. CEO Bob Dhillon, whose Calgary-based real estate company owns and operates rental properties in the Calgary area, as well as in British Columbia and Saskatchewan.

New feature to join Walk Score on REALTOR.ca

Transit Score will now be made available on select listings on REALTOR.ca, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) announced recently.

The national real estate agency said the addition is in response to a "demographic and socioeconomic shift toward sustainable transportation." It also noted that in a 2013 Nanos survey, 59 per cent of respondents indicated that the Transit Score would be valuable when assessing listings on REALTOR.ca.

The addition of the Transit Score coincides with the change in the implementation of the already popular Walk Score. Both scores will now be positioned in the new "Walk Score + Directions" tab, rather than at the bottom of the listing details page.

Sales activity remains well below long-term averages  

Elevated inventory levels in October contributed to a second consecutive month of price declines in Calgary's resale residential housing market.

Benchmark prices declined 0.7 per cent from the previous month, and 1.2 per cent from the same time last year, to $453,100.

"Persistent weakness in the overall economy continued to impact housing demand in Calgary as October sales were nearly 16 per cent below long-term averages," said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. "In addition, new listings did not decline enough to prevent inventory gains and, ultimately, price contractions."

Boomers see opportunities in growing city

Laura Routledge already had a lifetime of large-home living in her rear-view mirror when she first started thinking about moving to Airdrie

"I raised my two kids in Carstairs, so I (was) familiar with the area and watched it grow," said the 61-year-old. "I had a huge house in Chestermere and my husband passed away suddenly six years ago, so that was the incentive to downsize."

With a son and daughter-in-law already established in the growing city just north of Calgary, Routledge packed up her belongings, her two cats and hopes of a more tranquil life in Airdrie.

What's on the horizon for Calgary's skyline?

Despite much of the news coming out of Calgary's downtown being of the negative variety as of late, there are still developments moving forward. With construction cranes still littering the downtown skyline, CREB®Now takes a look at five developments coming to downtown Calgary in the near future.

The Hat
A 28-storey residential rental complex being built by Calgary-based Cidex Developments Ltd, The Hat will bring the first new rental accommodations to East Village. The family-friendly three-bedroom apartments will offer everything that a family needs, including on-site child care, all within easy walking distance.

City seeks regulatory direction on ride-sharing service

The City of Calgary has been conducting a covert operation to catch local drivers subscribing to the controversial Uber ride-sharing app.

The news, reported by several new agencies Friday, came shortly after City staff presented a report to the Taxi and Limousine Advisory Committee that asked for input on how to regulate private for-hire transportation companies.

City administration will present those options to council in mid November on ways to regulate private for-hire transportation companies.

New initiative highlights growing housing concern

The City of Calgary has embarked on a three-year strategy to develop a more "age-friendly" city in light of some estimates that have the local senior population nearly doubling within the next decade.

Dubbed the Seniors Age-Friendly Strategy, the plan calls for the creation of community networks focused on issues such as housing, transportation and mobility.

Proposed actions include increasing the provincial standard for provincially funded affordable housing from 10 to 15 per cent, advocating for sustainable provincial funding for the development of new affordable housing and introducing a Land Use Bylaw Amendment to allow for more secondary suites.

Renters with kids face uphill battle

After her marriage broke down in 2013, Kelly Farley needed to find a home to rent for her and her two teen daughters. She wanted to stay close to the northwest Calgary neighbourhood where the girls had grown up and to keep them in the same schools.

Eventually she found the main floor of a house; another tenant lived in the basement. It wasn't the best situation, but things got worse before they were better.

The basement tenant moved out and the landlord decided to sell the house. Then, just weeks after Farley moved out, the landlord relisted the main-floor unit — for more money than Farley had been paying, and more than she could afford.

"It was a grim search and I became desperate," said Farley of her house-hunting search. "When you have kids and you're going through a family breakdown, as a renter, all you want to know is that you have a safe, stable place to land."