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New bill is a win for consumers and the real estate industry |
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CREB® supports the provincial government in tabling the Condominium Property Amendment Act this week and bringing over 50 amendments for enhanced consumer protection and stronger governance within the condominium industry. In particular, the new Act will regulate a disclosure of information related to the sale and governance of condominium units.
“Information is power, and these changes will empower consumers and REALTORS® to make more informed purchasing decisions,” said Bill Kirk, CREB® president. “In a particular, it will create clarity around reserve funds and special assessments, and reduce those surprises for consumers on things like special levies.” The amendments include the creation of a condominium tribunal, that reduces the time and costs associated with dispute resolution between condo owners and corporations. As well, there will be increased regulation of the industry with the introduction of licensing requirements for condominium managers by the Real Estate Council of Alberta. As a stakeholder in industry consultations, CREB® is pleased to see its members’ concerns addressed in the amendments. The Act is a positive direction towards the modernization of condominium legislation and reflects the changes to the industry since the Condominium Property Act was first introduced in 2000. “Thanks to the input of owners, their associations and over 4,000 Albertans, Bill 9 makes intelligent and purposeful changes to protect current and future condo owners, brings consistency for condo developers and provides structure and stability to governance for condo boards,” said Stephen Khan, Minister of Service Alberta. “We followed the leadership of Albertans to develop legislation, and will continue to work with them to implement it.” Service Alberta indicates most of the regulations from the Bill will be implemented over the next year. CREB® looks forward to the implementation of the amendments and continuing to serve as advocates on issues that affect its members. There are over 320,000 condominium owners in the province and condominium sales account for approximately 20 percent of residential sales annual.
To view an overview of the changes click here |
Archive for December, 2014
CREB® supports Condominium Property Amendment Act
Saturday, December 13th, 2014Nov 2014, Calgary Real Estate Market Snapshot
Tuesday, December 2nd, 2014Stay ahead of the curve by following our Monthly Market Snapshot of the Calgary Real Estate Market. This shows what’s really happening in the Calgary Real Estate Market. The market is driven by supply and demand so here we show the inventory (supply) and sales (demand) and the effect on the price of Calgary Real Estate. A simple way to keep up to date and ahead of most!
Below are the details along with a few comments, all numbers were taken from the Calgary Real Estate Boards Stats package for Realtors.
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Calgary housing market softens slightly as we approach Christmas. Single family homes and apartment Condos moved slightly toward a balanced market while the Townhouse market went slightly deeper into a Sellers market. Below is a summary of some key areas with a few short comments.
Calgary Listing Inventory: As I would expect all Inventory levels decreased this last month. Inventories typically decrease at this time of year as some people now wait until the New Year to list. Interestingly the decrease was about 40% less than our decrease in November last year.
|
Inventory |
Oct 2014 |
Nov 2014 |
Change |
|
Single Family Home |
2780 |
2373 |
-408 |
|
Condo Townhouse |
568 |
511 |
-57 |
|
Condo Apartment |
1088 |
985 |
-103 |
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Total |
4436 |
3869 |
-567 |
Calgary Sales:
Typically at this time of year we also see sales numbers decreasing. Sales in November decreased in all categories. Compared to last year sales from October to November decreased slightly more than last year however sales numbers are still higher than November 2013.
|
Sales |
Oct 2014 |
Nov 2014 |
Change |
% Change |
|
Single Family Home |
1462 |
1181 |
-281 |
-.19 |
|
Condo Townhouse |
300 |
277 |
-23 |
-.07 |
|
Condo Apartment |
385 |
324 |
-61 |
-.16 |
|
Total |
2147 |
1782 |
-365 |
.17 |
Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices:
In November the benchmark price decreased for single family homes and increased for Townhouses and apartment condos. The change is so small it’s insignificant. December pricing should remain fairly stable. Based on what I am seeing my early prediction for the New Year is for prices to continue to increase for Single family homes, and less so for Townhouses. Apartment condo prices should remain fairly stable as we are in a balanced market state.
|
Sales Prices |
Oct 2014 Benchmark Price |
Nov 2014 Benchmark Price |
Change |
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Single Family Homes |
513,500 |
511,300 |
-2,200 |
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Condo Townhouse |
337,800 |
338,600 |
+800 |
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Condo Apartment |
299,800 |
300,700 |
+900 |
Sales Prices “Year to Date”
Year to date prices – Prices have increased in all categories. Good news if you are a homeowner.
|
Sales Prices |
Dec 31 2013 Benchmark Price |
Nov 2014 Benchmark Price |
Change $ |
% Change |
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Single Family Homes |
472,200 |
511,300 |
39,100 |
+9.3% |
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Condo Townhouse |
307,100 |
338,600 |
31.500 |
+10.25% |
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Condo Apartment |
278,600 |
300,700 |
22,100 |
+7.9% |
Absorption Rate (Months of Inventory) (the inventory divided by the number of sales in the last month). What does this mean you might ask?
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Buyer’s Market |
>4.0 |
|
Balanced Market |
Between 2.8 to 4.0 |
|
Seller’s Market |
<2.8 |
*** Absorption Rate:
This month the absorption rate increased for Single Family homes and Apartment Condos while Townhouses decreased slightly. This moves Single family homes closer towards a balanced market, Townhouses in a deeper Sellers market and apartment condos move stronger into a balanced market.
|
Absorption Rate |
Oct 2014 |
Nov 2014 |
Change |
|
Single Family Homes |
1.90 |
2.01 |
+.11 |
|
Condo Townhouse |
1.89 |
1.84 |
-.05 |
|
Condo Apartment |
2.83 |
3.04 |
+.21 |
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Total Calgary |
2.06 |
2.17 |
+.11 |
**Please note that these numbers do change on a community basis and more so for towns. If you would like to find stats on your community just let me know. If you have any questions about this summary, the attached stats package or any Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us.