Calgary’s real estate market continues steadily along, with home sales jumping more than 2 percent and average prices going up year over year. Despite the economic downturn, we have not seen a dramatic slowdown in most markets where property sales are concerned.

Potentially challenging that stability is a set of new rules around mortgages that the federal government will be phasing in starting October 17. Most noteworthy is a requirement that homeowners seeking an insured mortgage pass a ‘stress test’ to prove they can afford payments even if interest rates climb to the Bank of Canada’s posted rate (which can be nearly double what’s on offer from the banks), and that their carrying costs won’t exceed 39 percent of household income. This applies both to buyers with down payments above and below 20 percent, which is a major change from the status quo.

Other changes include a requirement that revenue coming from home sales be reported to the government at tax time; proceeds from the sale of one’s primary residence will remain tax free, but the feds are attempting to stem foreign buyers using a tax code loophole to claim flipped properties as primary residences to lower their tax bills.

It remains to be seen what the outcome of these changes will be. Some mortgage brokers are predicting that up to a third of first time homebuyers attempting to get into the market may find their pre-approval declined, while supporters see this as a positive way to address Canadians’ rising ratio of debt to income. Home prices in Toronto and Vancouver are rising rapidly, and this move by the government is surely a way to tap the brakes on that growth, but increasing indebtedness in this era of historically low interest rates is also a valid concern.

My advice in light of these rules remains the same as my outlook before they were announced: don’t try to buy more home than you can afford. While you may be pre-approved for a $700,000 mortgage, start your search a fair amount lower than that to see if there’s a property that meets your needs at a more comfortable monthly payment level. You can’t really go wrong with being conservative in this area.

So, when you contact me to line up some showings, give me a range of what you’d like to see below your pre-approval level, and I’ll help find a home that meets the needs of both your lifestyle and your pocketbook.  If you aren’t sure what your pre-approval is contact your bank or a mortgage broker, such as Canquest Mortgage, to get started.

Despite the mid- to high-twenty degree temperatures, fall is upon us, and with the change in seasons comes a little preventative maintenance for your home before winter hits. Among the most important ways you can winterize your home is the annual furnace tune-up.

If you’re like me, your furnace has been rather dormant since June. When the cold weather hits and you are depending on it to work, though, the last thing you want is a blinking service light. Just like your vehicle, moving parts in your furnace need regular adjustment and/or replacement, while anything involved with a combustion system will need to be cleaned out from time to time to keep things humming along. An unserviced furnace is a furnace that’s going to break down, it’s just a matter of when; Murphy’s Law suggests it’ll probably be in the middle of the night, when the temperature dips below -30, and you’ll be paying steep emergency call fees to your trusted repair person.

So how do you go about booking a tune-up? The best place to start is by asking friends and relatives if they have any HVAC professionals with whom they have a good relationship. Word of mouth is the best way to ensure a good experience when it comes to hiring trades. Once you have a company in mind, give them a call and book an appointment. Prices for fall tune-ups are usually between $75 and $150, depending on what’s included.

You’ll need to be present while the work’s being done, mostly to approve any additional expenses that could come up: burners and belts wear out, chimneys become clogged with soot, and it’s better to fix these things before they cause major problems.  The whole thing should take about an hour. Furnace tune-ups usually involve cleaning and adjusting the furnace itself, as well as the hot water tank, which is another appliance that can break down without warning and cause serious headaches.

Furnaces and hot water tanks are big ticket items, so if the recommendation is to replace either of these, take the time to do some research and find the best product for the best price. Technology for both of these appliances has come a long way in the past fifteen years, so you may decide to pay a little extra to improve your home’s efficiency, and save money on utility bills down the road.

Getting your home ready for winter is a necessary inconvenience that can prevent some real hassles down the road, so don’t let it fall to the bottom of your to-do list. I have some vendors that I know and trust, so to chat about it, just Contact me!
The annual Home + Design Show is quickly upon us, running from September 22-25, and I have a promo code for 2-for-1 tickets to pass along. Simply purchase online here, and use the code TODD. The code expires September 20, so don’t wait!

As is pretty common in real estate news articles lately, the Herald kind of buried the lede in its latest survey of Calgary’s market. Yes, it’s true that year-over-year sales were predictably down once again, as sectors of our economy continue to suffer. More interesting, though, at least from my perspective, is the fact that detached home sales were down a mere 1.4 percent from last year. Think about that: despite unemployment in the province hitting a 20-year high, houses are still being bought at a rate very close to last year’s. Add in the fact that average sale prices are actually up in some segments, despite a substantial increase in supply, and you have just one more example of the strong fundamentals underlying our real estate market.

The weaknesses in the market right now, rightly noted by the Herald, are the apartment, and attached home (including townhouses and duplexes) sectors, which have seen sharper declines in both sales and selling prices. Still, the drops have been nowhere near as precipitous as you might have expected if the market had been overheated.

The fact of the matter is, real estate in Calgary offers good value for money. We’re a resilient, optimistic city, and a great place to live.

So when you notice a particularly dire headline about the state of our real estate market, consider the purpose of that headline (to encourage clicks and sell papers), and read the entire article before forming an opinion. That’s solid advice for any article you might come across these days, actually.

As always, I’m available to consult on your property, or just to chat, through my contact form.

427 CANTRELL DR SW

A renovation project with lots of potential. Located in a great neighbourhood. Popular floor plan for this Nu West bungalow, comprising of a formal living room / dining room plan and 3 bedrooms with a 2 piece en suite off the master. Lower level has some development; a fourth bedroom and a second half-bath. There’s a full bath upstairs near the bedrooms. Located near to both public and separate schools from K to 12, playgrounds, L.R.T., and shopping. The heavily treed lot has loads of privacy.

To view more photos and full listing details visit my web page!

940 LAKE TWINTREE CR SE

Beautiful location on a quiet crescent. The private back yard has south east exposure, and backs onto a large green area with trees. Andrew Sibbald School (CBE K-4) and its play-parks are situated at the other end of the field a block away. The alley behind is paved. This 4 level split has had many upgrades including updated kitchen cabinets & counter tops, and built-ins surrounding the stone fireplace, plus a recent furnace and shingles. Main floor has a formal dining room with patio doors leading to a deck and the sunny rear yard. The family room is large and bright. Hardwood throughout, no carpet anywhere! Three bedrooms on the upper level. The master has a full ensuite plus a door to a balcony overlooking the rear yard. Includes lake privaleges for year-round fun. This is a perfect home for a growing family. Don’t miss out, ones such as this aren’t available very often!

To view more photos, floor plan, virtual tour, and full listing details visit my web page!

As Alberta’s economy continues to sputter, with unemployment hitting levels we haven’t seen since the early eighties, one would expect our once heated real estate market to be cooling off big time. Listings are way up over last year as people look to downsize, leading to an abundance of selection from which buyers can choose. A surface reading would suggest prices should be dropping.

But they’re not. Calgary’s average prices for July and August were actually up year over year, with only a 15 percent increase in the average number of days properties are listed on the market.

So why would that be? Late last month the CBC ran an excellent article exploring this very issue. Based on information from the Department of Finance, the conclusion the article reaches is that much of the unemployment our province is experiencing has hit itinerant workers – meaning those who came from other provinces to fill jobs in Alberta – who weren’t homeowners here, and have since returned to their home provinces. This has the effect of limiting downward pressure on Alberta’s housing markets (while spiking the rental vacancy rates). Read the article for more in depth analysis.

If the economic downturn continues, of course, its impact on the real estate market could be more pronounced. For the moment, however, housing sales remain a relatively stable component of Alberta’s economy.

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Want to chat about selling your house, or looking to buy? Contact me!

Most home buyers would agree that one of the first details they look for in an MLS listing is the square footage of a property. This information alone can lead a buyer to read on or move along to a more appropriately sized home. This is self evident, and so it may come as a surprise to learn that, until recently, no real estate regulator in Canada has had a Residential Measurement Standard (RMS). That changed this past May, when the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA) approved an RMS in our province.

Following extensive consultations, RECA developed an RMS that, in the words of Council Chair Krista Bolton, will allow consumers to, “be confident in the measurements stated within residential real estate listings, and they can use those measurements to compare different properties to determine if they suit their needs.”

In addition to Realtors and their clients, RECA notes that the RMS benefits appraisers, mortgage brokers, financial institutions, and insurers.

RECA has published on its website a quite comprehensive Guide to the Residential Measurement Standard in Alberta, but the basics are that single detached properties are to be measured on the outside surface of the exterior walls at floor level, while duplexes, townhouses, condominiums, and apartments should be measured ‘paint-to-paint’ at floor level. Only floors that are entirely above grade are measurable as part of the RMS; partially below ground levels, such as those in a split, may be measured and noted in the listing but not as part of the RMS number.

Proper measurement is vital, and inaccurate work can cause some serious hardships, so long before this new standard was even being discussed, I started using the services of a professional measurement company for all my listings. It costs me money to provide this service for each listing, but the peace of mind and unquestionable accuracy are well worth it to me.

If you have any questions about the new RMS, please contact me!

On a separate note, the Calgary Home + Design Show is only three months away, and I have a special Father’s’ Day promo code to pass along. Click here and use the promo code DAD to get two-for-one tickets! (Offer expires June 24th at 11:59pm)

1607 WENTWORTH VI SW

Offered here is a desirable floorplan with a great location, backing south onto a private forest. Inside you will discover a large living room, the kitchen and deck at the back of the home, and double-master bedrooms each having it’s own full ensuite; great for roommates or kids. The sellers purchased the property new and spared no expense with upgrades; such as upgrading flooring (hardwood including the stairs, tall pile carpet with soft underlay), upgraded cabinets and a gas stove in the kitchen, fireplace, a gas line on the deck, and so on. The nearby amenities are superb, you’d be within walking distance to everything you’d need. Timmy’s AND Starbucks are a two minute walk. Also nearby are amazing restaurants, pubs, dinners, grocery/liquor stores, a drug store, banks, fast food and healthy takeout outlets, gyms, dry cleaners, dessert joints, boutiques, etc. Oh, this is also situated within the walk-zone for both public and a catholic elementary/middle schools.

To view more photos, floor plan and full listing details visit my web page.

#2101 24 HEMLOCK CR SW

Copperwood! This one has it all. Clean and fresh with recent updates. Main floor location. 2 bedrooms separated from eachother by a large living room with a gas fireplace. 2 full bathrooms, one an ensuite, and one a cheater-ensuite. There’s a full laundry area to help hide away the mess. The master bedroom features a large walk-in closet with brand new California Closet built-ins. Receive your guests in the spacious front hall that features a den area with a built-in desk. Awesome location right beside Shaganappi Golf Course. Just a 10 minute walk to the Westbrook C-train, groceries, restaurants and shops. Copperwood has multiple amenities available, including lush landscaping with gazeboes and pathways, a full gym, and a recreation room. The parkade features a car wash, bicycle storage, and a craft room plus a workshop!

To view more photos, floor plan and full listing details visit my web page.

Even as Calgary’s home market continues to slow, bit by bit, we’re seeing a remarkable increase in the number of homes on the market – supply is up nearly 24 percent from a year ago. This completely makes sense: there’s a wide variety of homes in styles and price ranges to suit nearly every potential buyer in neighbourhoods across the city, and that’s making homeowners who maybe weren’t even planning to move get the upgrade bug, so they put their own property on the market to see if it’ll sell. Add in our economic troubles forcing some to downsize, and you’ve got an abundance of supply.

This can, and is, leading to an expectation gap between some buyers and sellers. While some sellers are still hoping to get prices in the range they might’ve seen a year or two ago, thrifty buyers are using the current situation to pressure for deep discounts. It’s a bit of an impasse that may take some time to smooth out.

So what’s a person to do? My advice is this: if you’re looking to sell, you may need to, as Calgary Real Estate Board president Cliff Stephenson put it recently, “lower your expectations on price.” Calgary’s real estate market remains very healthy and sustainable, but you can’t grow the inventory the way ours has in the past several months without putting downward pressure on asking prices. Consider how quickly you’d like your property to sell, as attractive pricing can help a home stand out in today’s market. There’s no need to drastically undervalue your listing, but you’re not going to get 2014 prices today.

For buyers, don’t expect a fire sale mentality amongst sellers, as our market’s just not there. While there’s a lot to choose from, benchmark prices really haven’t dropped that much, and mid-range homes are still changing hands in a couple of weeks. While there may be a bit more wiggle room than there would’ve been last year, appealing properties are still highly sought after, and bidding wars are not out of the question.

Overall, our market continues to adjust to the new reality, but the fact that it remains relatively stable is a testament to how healthy and realistic it has remained over the past several years. As our economy improves over the rest of the year, we may see some of the downward pressure let up, but really what happens next remains to be seen.

Contact me today for a comparative market analysis today!