An interesting little article in the Herald today. The Stampede is proposing an extnsion of 17 Ave across the LRT tracks into the road system of the Stampede grounds. Full article: http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/story.html?id=f35bea4f-df2c-4a64-a498-50a5c567ea25 I could see that eventually causing a revitalization along 17 Ave between McLeod Trail and 2 St SW, which has some vacant lots and older light-industrial/commercial businesses such as a body shop or two.  Would the red mile eventually shift to the east I wonder? I think it might, as a matter of fact I am sure it would as the restaurants and bars closer to the Dome and Stampede Grounds take advantage of the closer proximity.  It's an interesting proposal. The one concern i would have is traffic backing up 17 Ave at Rush... 06/15/2008

CMHC published their Spring 2008 Rental Market Report on June 5. The overall vacancy rate in Calgary in April 2008 is 2.0%, compared to 0.5% in April 2007.  The breakdown: Bachelor: 2.6% 1-Bedroom: 1.8% 2-bedroom: 2.2%   Average rents April 2007: bachelor:$608  1-bedroom:$848  2-bedroom:$1008  3+Bedroom:$939 Average rents April 2008: bachelor:$651 1-bedroom:$906 2-bedroom:$1081 3+bedroom:$1105 The full report including other markets: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/64725/64725_2008_B01.pdf - Andrew Kyle   06/15/2008

It looks like the Calgary market has turned the corner, inventory is coming down now. The 3rd week of May appears to have been the high water mark for Absorption Rate and inventories. Knock on wood. June 14, 2008 Current Listings Sold in Last 30 Days Absorption Rate (?) Single family (SF) Houses 7091 1413 5.02 Condos 3353 639 5.25 Combined (SF and Condos) 10444 2052 5.09 What is Absorption Rate? Click here for an explanation (c) 2008 Andrew Kyle. Feel free to re-use these charts provided you place a link back to my ActiveRain blog or my website www.AndrewKyle.com. Subscribe to my blog by clicking here Addendum/clarification: My stats are for Calgary city limits only and do not include town and country. 06/15/2008

ZIP, ZERO ZILCH. Nothing to finish and a total of 2,400 sq. ft. of living space above grade completed for you to enjoy. Fresh, and inviting this home has cool like a cucumber colours that coordinate throughout the home. All appliances and window coverings and hot tub are included. This Hampton II by Carolina Homes has a great room with wide open kitchen and nook on the main floor. The second floor has a bonus room that can be your home office, a fourth bedroom, a playroom or a place for mom and dad to relax but still be close by. The master suite has a vaulted ceiling, and the en suite has a large soaker tub, an angled shower and walk-in closet. The walkout basement is finished to the same high standard as the rest of the home with a bedroom, bath and rec. room. The yard pies out to 64'... 06/14/2008

I've published my Market report for June.  See below or click here: Market Report - June 2008 Market Report - June 3, 2008 by Andrew Kyle, B.ASc., Realtor Now Is The Time To Buy! I'm usually pretty conservative in my language in these market reports, but there is just no other way to describe the current market - "Now is the time to buy!" It is the best time to buy real estate in Calgary in many years. Home inventories are high, and buyers are reaping the benefits in the form of selection and being able to negotiate the best sale price and most favourable terms. If you have been thinking of buying but want to wait, what exactly are you waiting for? The combined (houses and condos) Absorption Rate within Calgary city limits stands at 5.64, with houses being 5.47 and condos being 6.05 (Se... 06/12/2008

Hello, I'm Calgary Realtor Shawn Beck. It is an incredible sellers' boom Calgary had 2 years ago. And now, a buyer's market.  People always ask me: What will the current market be like in the next 6 months? I do not predict the market. Honestly, I don't think anyone can really predict the Real Estate Market. So this is why I reply: We must make the most of what we can, in the market that we have at the present. Because no one predicted the market we had 2 years ago.   05/26/2008

Oil hit $135/barrel last night. Currently, 1 in 5 homes are selling in Calgary. (We are in a buyers market ... and looks like we'll be here for awhile.) It is predicted that $4-$6 Trillion dollars will be wiped out in US in next year ... due to Sub-prime crisis. A vertan realtor and old timer said to me yesterday, "I've never seen the market this bad. I can't sell any of my listings." How do we make sense of the current slump off the housing market in Calgary? Today I requested from the Calgary Real Estate Board annual data back to 1973 on the following: Listings; Sales; Dollar Volume; Average Sale Price From my analysis of the data ... ... assuming the trend of 1982 is IDENTICAL to our current economic situation (which of course it is not) ...  we are sitting at about 1983 ... and it w... 05/22/2008

After the wild ride we had two years ago and to a lesser extent in 2007, 2008 is shaping up to be a completely different kind of market.There are a tremendous number of homes on the market, 10330 single family and condos in Calgary metro as of this writing. I consider a "Normal" market to have between 3,000 and 4,000 listings, so you can see there is a lot to choose from, and it is definitely a buyers market, with lots of wheeling and dealing.Why are there so many Listings? Several reasons, paramount among them is that many people jumped into the market two years ago with investment money, buying or building speculatively with the intention to sell in two years at a profit. Many of these investors calculated a future value of their property that did not come true, however they still hav... 05/09/2008

Western Canadians are buying real estate in Arizona.  There are four reasons for this modern day land grab:  Crude oil and minerals have led the commodities price surge, world wide.  Western Canada is rich with both minerals and crude oil.   While the Western United States is experiencing a housing-led recession,  the opposite is happening to our Northern neighbors. The Canadian dollar (sometimes called the “loonie”) has reached parity with the American dollar.  What used to cost a Canadian $1.15 , now costs about a buck. Housing prices in both Arizona and Southern California are over 20% off of their high prices. Mortgage rates, for Canadian investors, have dropped from 8.5% to 7.2%. Let me lay it out for you in a story.  Bob Miller, from Calgary, earned some $150,000 Canadian in 2006... 04/26/2008

 Calgary Real EstateCalgary real estate, Calgary REALTORS®, Calgary home evaluations and more. Get access to Calgary real estate, Calgary REALTORS®, Calgary new homes and Calgary foreclosures. We also have information on Calgary home selling, home buying and mortgages, movers and other realty services for anyone looking to sell a home or buy a home in Calgary Alberta.Calgary Real estate Informationhttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calgary Calgary Real Estate NewsMLS® REPORTS VARIETY IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN MARCH 2008April 1, 2008Calgary's MLS® listings for the month and for the fi rst quarter, indicate a wide variety of housing for potential buyers, according to fi gures released by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®).Single family Calgary metro new listings added for the month of Mar... 04/04/2008

It doesn't make much sense. According to CREA and an article in the Calgary Herald today prices on a detached bungalow home went up 9.9% while condo prices increased 6.9%. That's a lot more money to have to pay for a new home now than buying a year ago.This is despite the increase in Calgary real estate listings hitting the market recently. So it looks like property may take longer to sell but sellers are holding out and prices aren't dropping.Right now here is lots to choose from but if you are waiting to make an offer you may end up paying more. And a year from now you'll pay more again.more Calgary homes for sale  04/04/2008

Calgary, April 1, 2008 - Calgary's MLS® listings for the month and for the first quarter, indicate a wide variety of housing for potential buyers, according to figures released by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®).Single family Calgary metro new listings added for the month of March totaled 3,493, an increase of 11.6 per cent from March 2007 when new listing added totaled 3,131 an increase of 17.2 per cent over last month, when new listings coming to the market were 2,981. At the end of the first quarter, we have seen 9,497 listings new to the market, compared to the 7,661 new listings for the first quarter of 2007, indicating a 24 per cent increase. "We have moved into a market that is currently providing a great variety and choices for the buyer. Not only does the buyer have much ... 04/02/2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEAnnouncing a new service we are offering at Buyahomecalgary.com. If you are looking to buy or sell a house or condo in Calgary or the surrounding area turn to our online Calgary real estate classifieds.For a limited time you can list your home or condo for sale for free. By reaching hundreds of qualified vistors to our site you can sell your listing faster!=========================About BuyAHomeCalgary.com=========================Our site has been around since 2003 listing Calgary Real Estate related websites. Now we are featuring properties for sale with our automated classified real estate listings service.A superior interface and search page is designed so it's quick and easy to find what buyers are looking for.Sellers can open an account and create their listing... 03/31/2008

So it has been 2 days since Welist.com went offline.If you have a property for sale by owner with Welist.com you are going to be mighty upset. Especially seeing as how it happened on the weekend.Their domain name has expired so either they are out of business or just not very studious when it comes to small little details like that. Of course their entire business is built on the branding of that URL so this could be a catastrophe. Current bidding on snagging that domain is over $1000.Anyone who wants to sell their Calgary house or condo listings faster should post it on our Calgary real estate listings site. For a limited time you can list for free. So now is the time to visit www.buyahomecalgary.com and list your calgary homes for sale. 03/30/2008

Calgary Foreclosure ListsCalgary Foreclosure properties can Save You Lots of Money!The Stef Lukas Group is the source for Calgary foreclosure homes on the internet. We offer Calgary real estate solutions and can help you find foreclosure listings. We help homebuyers find the foreclosure home of their dreams.Why work with The Lukas Group Calgary Foreclosure Team?Answer: Because we help you buy directly from home sellers who are facing foreclosure. This ends up with a lower house price and lower mortgage payments. Your family can live in a home that will impress your friends and family at up to 50% off the fair market value.Latest Calgary Foreclosed Homes from The Lukas Group To sign up for free information and be notified of foreclosure homes at great savings http://www.calgaryrealestate... 03/28/2008

We recently had a client that used our services - We fully furnished they're vacant property. It went into month 2 and still nothing - Hard luck story for the homeowners and we decided to leave the furnishings in for FREE. I'm so glad we were able to help and it helps me to remember that were here to help people. For me it's not only about the money it's the gratifying feeling that what I do really helps people. If I could afford to do it for free I would - I'm trying to incooperate a strategy that allows my company to offer pro-bono work to people that can't afford it. Any ideas would be fantastic.  03/16/2008

Just added a new addition to the family that's 3 little designers and counting....well maybe not.3 little ones...full time business....wow I'm either going to go crazy or maybe I am already. Just Kidding. It's a fantastic way to stay grounded. I'm so lucky that I can have both. Three little girls to love and a creative outlet. I can't wait till their older and I can take them with me.  03/16/2008

Staged a condo and it sold in 2 hours after being listed! 15 others in same building and ours was the only one staged. I love it when the results speak for themselves! It's gratifying to not only do something you love but for the resluts to be so outstanding too. Life-long fan from the customer.It's amazing the difference that can be made and I wish more people would realize the advantage of staging. It only stands to reason something packaged well will sell better. After years in the merchansing field I should know. It's packaging that sells.  03/16/2008

Well we are just starting to head into the spring market here in Calgary and if the Chinooks can bring us warm weather and melt away snow so can buyer do to our current inventory, melt it away. This spring  the market is favouring the buyers. With a total inventory of just over 10,500 Active Listings on the Calgary Real Estate Board's MLS system, the ball is going to be in the buyer's court. Without a doubt, there is a large selection of houses for sale in Calgary and surrounding area.  As of March 2nd, 2008, we have an inventory of 6,657 Single Family Home Active Listings, 2,810 Condominium Active Listings with an additional 1,054 rural and 67 mobile home Active Listings. So with numbers like that and with more properties due to come on the market for spring, there will be some great s... 03/16/2008

This posting is further to the Calgary Average & Median Sale Price Graph below. The Calgary real estate market has changed significantly in the past couple years.  With such high market increases everyone is left wondering, is the market going to increase...decrease.... or stay the same.  To give a little insight here is an overall snapshot of the Calgary real estate market from 2000 - 2008 and my opinion of what is going to happen this year. As we proceed into 2008 there will also be additional content posted to my main blog http://www.calgaryrealestateonline.ca/ which will represent the month to month patterns we are seeing in 2008.Feel free to check out the Calgary Market Prices and Trends 2000 - 2008 graph by clicking HERE.2008 YTDSo far this year the forecast remains positive and w... 03/11/2008