Jan. 14 marked CREB's annual economic outlook and regional housing forecast, Building Your Future.

The keynote for the forecast was investor, authour and TV personality Kevin O'Leary. O'Leary took some time before he hit the stage to sit down for a one-on-one covering everything from success to customer service to who he thinks is the greatest guitarist in the world.

 

CREB®'s president for 2015 is owner/broker of Royal LePage Benchmark, Corinne Lyall. Lyall took some time out of her busy schedule to chat with CREB®Now about the changing face of real estate, the first home she ever sold and how she likes to spend a day off in the city.

CN: Tell us a little bit about your background, what brought you to CREB?

Lyall: I grew up in real estate with my parents. My father, Clare, was in commercial real estate for almost 30 years, and my mom Jan started her career in the '70s, ultimately became a broker/owner and just dropped her license this past year.

Today was CREB's economic outlook for 2015 taking a look at all things housing and economy for the year to come. Here's some quotes from keynote speaker Kevin O'Leary, CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie and more.

Read more about the outlook on CREBnow on Friday.

Explore grow lights to boost seedlings this year

First the plants get tall and thin, and then they fall over and die.

Such is the fate of seeds grown too long on a winter windowsill.

Like Humpty Dumpty, a germinated seed can't be put back in the seed. Once seeds get enough water to germinate, they sprout and are suddenly desperate for light to grow. A windowsill can work for micro-greens, but larger plants need intense light to grow, and the easiest way to get it is to set up grow lights.

After record setting few years, migrants to Calgary expected to decrease in 2015

After consecutive years of record setting net migration, the number of Canadians making their way to Calgary is expected to ease over the next while.

CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie said a pullback in in-migration is expected in part due to record setting numbers set in the past few years.

"[2012 and 2013] were extremely strong; we had over 40,000 migrants into the Calgary CMA, so not just the city of Calgary, but surrounding areas. That's a very strong number, that is more than double typical levels," she said.

Potential rising interest rates in new year to coincide with growing economy

The once seemingly clear crystal ball that existed prior to the surge of Calgary housing prices in 2006 turned hazy during the global financial crisis that began in 2008 – and has  remained hazy ever since.

There have been moments since 2008 when predicting the future of interest rates seemed clear, however, other than the obvious that rates will eventually go up, predicting the timing has been elusive. Even the Bank of Canada itself has stopped providing forward-looking statements.

Calgary's neighbouring towns look ahead to 2015

Riding right along with their larger sibling, the towns around Calgary enjoyed a banner year for real estate in 2014. Topping the 4,439 sales seen in 2013, 2014 saw sales rise to 5,513, an increase of 24.2 per cent.

Airdrie was one market that posted particularly good sales activity in 2014, increasing annually by nearly 28 per cent to a new all-time record high of 1,695 units. Okotoks recorded 770 sales, narrowly beating out the 748 sales seen in Cochrane.

When looking for a reason so many communities outside of Calgary are seeing such a pronounced increase in sales, the relative affordability available in centres like Airdrie, Okotoks and Cochrane could be pointed out as a key factor.