While May brought plenty of falling rain to Calgary, sales in the city's real estate industry were headed solidly in the other direction.

Driven in part by an increased demand in the condominium market, Calgary residential monthly sales improved over the previous year in May, exceeding expectations, although slowing from 2012's double digits.

Earlier this year, friends and family of murdered real estate agent Lindsay Buziak held a memorial march in Saanich, B.C.

Five years have passed since the 24-year-old woman was stabbed to death while showing a luxury home in the Victoria suburb. Police believe she was lured to the vacant home and killed by someone posing as a homebuyer.

Bareland condo owners in Alberta will now have increased protection against large assessments to repair and maintain managed property, thanks to new legislation passed by the Alberta government.

The province's roughly 40,000 bareland condo owners had been left with uncertainty regarding special assessments, fees and maintenance following a Court of Queen's Bench decision. The decision determined the current Condominium Property Act does not give bareland condominium corporations the authority to collect fees or use reserve funds for expenses related to repairing and maintaining managed property.

The benchmark price for a single- family home in Calgary has increased beyond peak numbers seen in 2007, reaching a new high of $452,900 in April.

Single-family sales in the city totalled 1,611 in April, nearly two per cent higher than April 2012 while yearto- date figures are similar to levels recorded in 2012. While sales growth in the first part of this year was stifled by a shortage of new listings and inventory, the year-over-year 6.2 per cent increase in new listings helped support sales growth in April.

The Calgary real estate market began recovering in 2012, and so far this year, the future is looking bright.

CREB® statistics for the first three months of the year, as well as its outlook for 2013, suggest the recovery is expected to continue. So, what does this mean for people who are considering buying or selling their homes?

The inventory of active homes for sale in Calgary are the lowest March levels in more than five years. The decline in new listings hampered resale sales growth, which declined by more than two per cent in March compared to March 2012.

New listings in March are five per cent lower than levels recorded in 2012, and five per cent lower after the first quarter. The overall active listings stand at just 4,006 units, up from February's levels but well below the number available one year ago.

Spring has brought some fresh air to the home resale market in Calgary.

The inventory of active homes for sale in Calgary in March was the lowest level for the month in more than five years. Homes are selling quickly, but the decline in new listings also hampered resale sales growth.

Tightening market conditions are supporting price growth in Airdrie, Okotoks and Cochrane, although overall inventory levels of property remain healthy in areas surrounding Calgary.

Property sales in the surrounding areas totalled 865 units after the first quarter of the year, running at a similar pace to the same period in 2012. As in the entire region, the number of new listings has been falling at double-digit rates.

As Calgary is starting to see a tightening trend in the real estate market, some buyers are turning their attentions to surrounding areas for a place to call home.

While activity varied by area, overall property sales in the communities of Cochrane, Airdrie and Okotoks totaled 865 units in the first quarter of the year, similar to numbers seen from the same time in 2012.