CalgaryHomeBoys Real Estate Blog

Posing as a real estate agent has to be considered a serious offense given the level of trust that homebuyers and home sellers have in our profession. Apparently, the courts have decided it's just a $15,000 offense. People really want to know that the person they're meeting and about to make a huge transaction with is not a con-artist.

The man, a businessman in Calgary who works out of his home in Southeast Calgary, tried to sell homes on websites. This guy actually rented a property in Woodbine without the bank even knowing about it.  He listed properties and advertised them at a price lower than what they were being sold for. The matter hasn't been taken up by the police as yet.

Real estate and mortgage crimes are a real problem and can be quite a

Let's take a look at the stats from the last 13 months to see what's happened across Northwest Calgary.

If you look at April to April comparisons, you can see price is up about $34,000 and average days to sell is one full week less. That's significant enough right there. Inventory is way less during December yet prices don't seem to fall much during the winter. They were higher than during last April. Given this data, we might expect prices to jump considerably during May tend to be the peak time people want to buy and sell a home in Calgary.

Calgary condo apartment sales rose an astonishing 22% from April this year compared to last April. Average prices rose 7.35% to $261,300.

What's behind the change this year? Price.  With average single family homes selling at an $452,900, many homebuyers are only able to afford a condo apartment.  Still others can't qualify for a mortgage of that size. With real estate investment cash flowing in from China and the Middle East, some of it is finding its way into the condo rental apartment market.

Source: sothebysrealty.ca via Sotheby's on Pinterest

Having someone else pay the mortgage is a pretty powerful benefit. Some investors buy up these properties in bulk.  Investing in Calgary real estate is a reasonably safe investment so

It's incredible that homelessness is still a problem in Canada, especially here in Calgary, yet it is.  There are estimates that over 3500 people in Calgary are classified as homeless. A unsettling number of those are young people who could be exploited on the streets and turn to drug use.  There doesn't appear to be any political resolve to deal with the problem. Instead politicians tend to prefer to sweep the issue under the carpet.

The Calgary Homeless Foundation was setup in 1998 to try to deal with the problem. The late Mr. Art Smith, a Calgary entrepreneur, politician and philanthropist, founded the CHF in order to create a unified front to fight homelessness. As of 2008, the Foundation received a new mandate: to end homelessness in Calgary

Record Number of Luxury Homes in April in Calgary

Consistent with the trend to the growth in higher priced properties,Calgary had one of its best months ever in luxury home sales. This is on the heels of the record year in 2012 where 544 luxury homes were sold. 65 luxury properties were sold in April, which as up 38% from April 2012 but was down from March’s record of 74 properties. Calgary’s luxury home market performed better than any other major city in Canada with an incredible 50% increase during the first quarter of 2013. Million dollar homes are considered a solid investment for foreign investors looking to buy homes here.

Sales Up but Availability Becoming an Issue - In the overall Calgary area home market of all price levels, sales rose to

Could be prospective homebuyers are getting serious about paying down debt in order to qualify for a home loan. A new report by BMO Nesbitt Burns suggests more than half Canadians who will receive a refund will either pay down household debt or invest that money. Hopefully, this will give the Calgary real estate market a little boost this year.

Source: canadianmortgagesinc.ca via CanadianMortgagesinc on Pinterest

Amazingly, the report says 8 out of 10 Canadians will get a tax refund this year. Almost 8.8 million returns out of the 13.1 million filed were eligible for a refund. CRA has issued almost $14 Billion in tax refunds. The average return was for $1,585.

Those who anticipate a refund plan to spend it on:

• Home bills,

Anyone new to Calgary who has traveled around the city to scope out neighbourhoods has to be captivated by the area just northwest of the downtown Calgary. Across the 10th Street bridge is a warm, inviting neighbourhood with its own shops and a small town feel.

Being near downtown though can have its drawbacks. Traffic noise, transients, and over development can definitely wear away the charm of the village. But In 2009, The Hillhurst/Sunnyside Area Redevelopment Plan was enacted to help the village keep its personal charm and to ensure affordable housing was available in the area.

There's not much housing available in this area and it tends to be pricey. The population of hillhurst is about 6200, up about 300 from the last census. Most of the

Average Price Soars Above $450,000.

The average price of a single detached home in Calgary rose to a new high of $452,900. Market conditions finally pushed the sales price above the record levels of 2007. There was a total sales volume of $1,062,898,643 in the Calgary area.

Single family sales totaled 1611 units, almost 2% higher than last year at this time. New listings helped prop up sales and prices. Sales had been lagging earlier due to a shortage of inventory in Calgary.  With some detached housing becoming too pricey, the condo market has been revived. Condo sales grew 11% over the same time last year. Strong sales has reduced the Calgary market to 871 units currently available for sale.  This means the condo market is also a seller’s market.

Another report has come out from Sotheby's regarding the amount of real estate investment funds flowing into Canada. Foreign buyers consider our country a safe haven for their money. And real estate is as solid an investment as they can find. It's one they understand too.

They're buying in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and most other big Canadian cities.

It's not only Chinese investors who are buying up properties including commercial real estate. It's the middle east too. The report suggests Syrians, Egyptians and Europeans are wanting a safe/stable place to put their fortunes — Canada’s softening real estate market. 

These buyers are very interested in the high end market above $10 million. The problem is, there isn't

A new poll by Harris/Decima, said Albertans plan to spend on average $22,900 on home renovations this year. That's quite a bit more than the national average of $15,300.  The report also said 39% of Canadians plan to renovate their homes this year. 52% of Albertans responded that they plan to renovate this year.

In BC, the atmosphere was a little more conservative with only 25% of respondents saying they plan to renovate. The Calgary Herald believes that renovation spending is linked to resale transactions and income. Income is rising in Alberta and the renovations might be for the purpose of improving the livability of the home or to improve its value for future sale. After taking possession of resale homes many new buyers will be looking to upgrade