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2016 Economic Outlook

Wednesday, January 20th, 2016

CREB has released their 2016 Economic Outlook and Regional Housing Market Forecast. In this document they outline their forecast of the next year and go into depth on the following topics:

The global economy
Interest rates
The energy sector
The local economy
Employment
Population growth
Calgary housing market, including rentals, resale and new builds
Surrounding area housing markets.

This is a fantastic read for anyone interested in local real estate and has some great insights into what we may expect in the coming year. If you would like to read the full report please check it out here.

Posted in Articles, Blog, Education | Comments Closed

December Market Snapshot

Tuesday, January 5th, 2016

Find out what is really happening in the Real Estate Market. Stay ahead of everyone else by following our Monthly Market Snapshot of the Calgary Real Estate Market. This shows what’s really happening! The market is driven by supply and demand so here we show the inventory (supply) and sales (demand) and most importantly the relationship between the two and how it affects 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.

Calgary Listing Inventory In December our total inventory of listings in Calgary declined in all 3 categories. This is very typical for this time of year as people are focused on the holiday season and wait until the New Year to list.

Inventory	Nov 2015	Dec 2015	Change
Detached	2680	2138	-542
Attached	1287	1078	-209
Apartment	1349	1120	-229
Total City of Calgary	5316	4336	-980

Calgary Sales: Sales in all categories decreased in December. Again this is typical for us to see a decrease in sales in December with the holidays. We are down from 2014 (2014 was a huge year) and are down from the long term average. What is interesting is the decline from November was approx. 30% in 2015 and the drop from November to December in 2014 was 39%.

Sales	Nov 2015	Dec 2015	Change	% Change
Detached	799	533	-266	-33.3%
Attached	269	194	-75	-27.9%
Apartment	195	151	-44	-22.6%
Total City of Calgary	1263	878	-385	-30.4%

Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices: Prices for all categories decreased this month. All the decreases were modest with the largest being in the detached home sector. I think the reason this sector took the largest drop is that it has been relatively stable for the last year while we have seen decreases in the other sectors. The overall price decrease for December was .42%

Sales Prices	Nov 2015 Benchmark Price	Dec 2015Benchmark Price	Change
Detached	510,700	508,700	-2,000
Attached	352,400	351,400	-1,000
Apartment	287,000	285,500	-1,500
Total City of Calgary	450,700	448,800	-1,900

Sales Prices “Year to Date” Year to date prices – The numbers here speak for themselves. As you can see the largest decrease is in the apartment sector. Overall I am surprised at how well Real Estate has held up so far with the oil prices, unemployment rate and all the uncertainty in Calgary. If you compare how much the prices have changed with the Absorption rate below there is a direct correlation.

Sales Prices	Dec 31, 2014 Benchmark Price	Dec 2015Benchmark Price	Change$	% Change
Detached	510,900	508,700	-2,200	-.4%
Attached	357,000	351,400	-5,600	-1.6%
Apartment	300,300	285,500	-14,800	-4.9%
Total City of Calgary	459,000	448,800	-10,200	-2.2%

Absorption Rate (Months of Inventory) (the inventory divided by the number of sales in the last month). What does this mean you might ask?

Buyer’s Market	>4.0	Drives prices down
Balanced Market	Between 2.8 to 4.0	Prices typically remain stable
Seller’s Market	<2.8	Drives prices up

*** Absorption Rate*** In my opinion this is the most critical number to look at. December saw detached homes move from a balanced market just into a buyers’ market putting all housing sectors into buyers’ a market position. Based on this I would have to predict further price easing in the upcoming months especially in the attached home and apartment condo sectors.

Absorption Rate	Nov 2015	Dec 2015	Change
Detached	3.35	4.01	+.66
Attached	4.79	5.56	+.77
Apartment	6.91	7.42	+.51
Total City of Calgary	4.21	4..94	+.73

Price Sensitivity It is also important to note that homes in the lower price ranges are still moving much quicker than homes in the higher price ranges. **Please note that these numbers do change on a community basis and more so for towns. This report does not include rural properties. If you would like to find stats on your community just let me know. If you have any questions about this summary or Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us.

Posted in Articles, Blog, Education | Comments Closed

November Market Snapshot

Wednesday, December 2nd, 2015

Below are the details along with a few comments, all numbers were taken from the Calgary Real Estate Boards Stats package for Realtors.

Calgary Listing Inventory

In November our total inventory of listings in Calgary declined in all 3 categories. It is very typical for inventory to decrease at this time of year as people start to focus on the holiday season.

Inventory	Oct 2015	Nov 2015	Change
Detached	2922	2680	-262
Attached	1290	1287	-3
Apartment	1366	1349	-17
Total City of Calgary	5578	5316	-262

Calgary Sales:

Sales in all categories decreased in November. Again it is typical for us to see a decrease in sales in November with the Holidays quickly approaching. We are down substantially from 2014 (2014 was a huge year) and are down from the long term average. In my opinion seasonal adjustments are a small part of this and it is a bigger reflection of a weakened economy and uncertainty in Alberta.

Sales	Oct 2015	Nov 2015	Change	% Change
Detached	872	799	-73	-8.4%
Attached	312	269	-43	-13.8%
Apartment	237	195	-42	-17.7%
Total City of Calgary	1421	1263	-158	-11.1%

Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices:

Prices for all categories decreased this month. The largest decrease is in the detached home sector. The overall price decease for November is .53% . Looking at the Absorption rate I predict that that detached home sector will continue to see small decreases while the attached home sector and apartment condo sector will continue to see higher decreases.

Why you might ask am I predicting a decrease for detached homes while we are still in a balanced market – my answer is simply that the consumer confidence level out there is low.

Sales Prices	Oct 2015 Benchmark Price	Nov 2015 Benchmark Price	Change
Detached	513,800	510,700	-3,100
Attached	354,100	352,400	-1,700
Apartment	288,300	287,000	-1,300
Total City of Calgary	453,100	450,700	-2,400

Sales Prices “Year to Date”

Year to date prices – The numbers here speak for themselves. As you can see the largest decrease is in the apartment sector. Overall I am surprised at how well Real Estate has held up so far with all the uncertainty.

Sales Prices	Dec 31, 2014 Benchmark Price	Nov 2015 Benchmark Price	Change $	% Change
Detached	510,900	510,700	-200	-.04%
Attached	357,000	352,400	4,600	-1.3%
Apartment	300,300	287,000	-13,300	-4.42%
Total City of Calgary	459,000	450,700	-8,300	-1.8%

Absorption Rate (Months of Inventory) (the inventory divided by the number of sales in the last month). What does this mean you might ask?

Buyer’s Market	>4.0	Drives prices down
Balanced Market	Between 2.8 to 4.0	Prices typically remain stable
Seller’s Market	<2.8	Drives prices up

*** Absorption Rate***

In my opinion this is the most critical number to look at. Somehow detached homes in Calgary are holding steady in a balanced market position. Both attached homes and apartment condos are in a buyers’ market. The largest increase is absorption rate is in the apartment condo sector at an increase of 1.15% which is substantial and will reflect in prices in the upcoming months.

Absorption Rate	Oct 2015	Nov 2015	Change
Detached	3.35	3.35	0
Attached	4.13	4.79	+.66
Apartment	5.76	6.91	+1.15
Total City of Calgary	3.93	4.21	+.28

Price Sensitivity

It is also important to note that homes in the lower price ranges are still moving while higher priced homes are the ones seeing the least amount of activity.

**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 or Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us.

If you know anyone else who might enjoy seeing our monthly summary please feel free to pass this on. Gord, Eric, Brent, Melissa

TSW Real Estate Group

Posted in Articles, Blog, Education | Comments Closed

October Market Snapshot

Tuesday, November 3rd, 2015

Despite all the doom and gloom in the media the Calgary Real Estate Market has not crashed and in certain sectors is actually fairing quite well considering the circumstances.

Below are the details along with a few comments, all numbers were taken from the Calgary Real Estate Boards Stats package for Realtors.

Calgary Listing Inventory

In October our inventory declined for detached homes and increased in the attached homes and apartments sectors.

Inventory	Sept 2015	Oct 2015	Change
Detached	3012	2922	-90
Attached	1232	1290	+58
Apartment	1282	1366	+84
Total City of Calgary	5526	5578	+52

Calgary Sales:

Sales for attached homes increased slightly this month while detached homes and apartment sales decreased. The largest decrease is in the apartment sector. Looking at the total sales we are down by only 27 sales from last month. We are down substantially from 2014 (2014 was a huge year) and are down from the long term average.

In my opinion seasonal adjustments are a small part of this and it is a bigger reflection of a weakened economy and uncertainty.

Sales	Sept 2015	Oct 2015	Change	% Change
Detached	906	872	-34	-3.75%
Attached	283	312	+29	+3.2%
Apartment	259	237	-22	-8.5%
Total City of Calgary	1448	1421	-27	-1.9

Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices:

Prices for all categories decreased this month. The overall price decrease from September was .66%. Looking at today’s absorption rate I predict that detached and attached homes will continue with small decreases while the apartment sector will show higher decreases. Why you might ask am I predicting a decrease for detached homes while we are still in a balanced market – my answer is simply the consumer confidence level out there.

Sales Prices	Sept 2015 Benchmark Price	Oct 2015 Benchmark Price	Change
Detached	517,200	513,800	-3,400
Attached	357,000	354,100	-2,900
Apartment	290,600	288,300	-2,300
Total City of Calgary	456,100	453,100	-3,000

Sales Prices “Year to Date”

Sales Prices	Dec 31, 2014 Benchmark Price	Oct 2015 Benchmark Price	Change $	% Change
Detached	510,900	513,800	+2,900	+.57%
Attached	357,000	354,100	-3,000	-.84%
Apartment	300,300	288,300	-12,000	-4.0%
Total City of Calgary	459,000	453,100	-5,900	-1.28%

Absorption Rate (Months of Inventory) (the inventory divided by the number of sales in the last month). What does this mean you might ask?

Buyer’s Market	>4.0	Drives prices down
Balanced Market	Between 2.8 to 4.0	Prices typically remain stable
Seller’s Market	<2.8	Drives prices up

*** Absorption Rate:

In October all categories increased with apartment condos taking the biggest jump. This will have an impact on prices in the coming months.

Absorption Rate	Sept 2015	Oct 2015	Change
Detached	3.32	3.35	+.03
Attached	4.35	4.13	-.22
Apartment	4.95	5.76	+.81
Total City of Calgary	3.82	3.93	+.11

Posted in Articles, Blog, CMHC, Education | Comments Closed

Calgary’s Housing Market Outlook Fall 2015

Wednesday, October 28th, 2015

CMHC has released this fall’s housing market outlook and there’s some great information in there! Some highlights include:

Single detached housing starts are forcast to remain below historical averages through to 2017
Multi-family starts are set to decline from the record high in 2014
MLS residential sales will decline in 2015 before gradually increasing in 2016 and 2017
Emplyment growth to slow down in 2015 and 2016 but improve in 2017

For an indepth look at what CMHC is projecting for the coming year take a look at the whole report here.

Posted in Articles, Blog, CMHC, Education | Comments Closed

Building a Wish List for Home Buyers

Tuesday, September 29th, 2015

There’s a difference between what you need and what you want. We all need a place to eat, sleep and call home, but when the time comes to buy that place, there’s a lot to consider. In a dream world we could envision our perfect home and magically make it happen. But this is reality, and in reality we all have budgets and other parameters we must work within, which is why I encourage all of my clients to start with a wish-list. It helps you determine exactly what you need, want, and must-have. It lays down a blueprint for your house hunt and it keeps you in check.

Here are some suggestions to help get you started building your wish-list:

• Make a list of all the things you love and don’t want to give up in the place you’re currently – a kitchen island, a soaker tub, a fireplace – whatever gives you pleasure and makes your house feel like home.
• A wish-list can also be referred to as a “change-list” – meaning, these are all the things about my current living space that must change. So take note of all the things in your current space that you are not happy with and highlight anything that frustrates you to no end.
• Consider how long you’re going to be in this home and what you envision happening in your life during that period. If you’re finally going to get that pet dog you’ve always wanted, then you’ll have to consider that when choosing the property.
• Identify which items you must have now, and which items can be added over time. Maybe you really want a deck in your backyard and you’ve just seen a great house that has everything but. A deck is something you can add on down the road.
• Consider your wish-list a constantly changing thing. Trust me – once you start looking at properties, you’ll be adding and dropping things from your list. That’s the best part about house hunting – every place you see gives you a better sense of what you’re really looking for.

Posted in Articles, Blog, Education, Home Buyers | Comments Closed

Are You being Mislead About True Home Values?

Tuesday, September 15th, 2015

As with many homebuyers, you may think you are rightfully judging home values based on what you see listed on realtor.ca (mls.ca). But, this can be greatly misleading.

There is a huge disconnect between the active list price and what a home actually sells for. In order to determine fair market value you need to compare similar homes that have already been sold.

What did the home actually sell for?
This will give you a much better idea in terms of value of the home you desire to purchase. Let our professional staff help you!

Posted in Blog, Education | Comments Closed

September Market Snapshot

Wednesday, September 2nd, 2015

Stay ahead of the curve by following our Monthly Market Snapshot of the Calgary Real Estate Market. This shows what’s really happening! 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.
Find out what your Neighbor’s home sold for – Our market report is set up based on your community! Register for our Market Report at http://www.calgaryareasolds.com/

August saw a small increase to our inventory levels and a decrease in sales numbers in all categories. Prices remained flat however our Absorption rate increased. This is somewhat typical of August with summer holidays and people away.

Inventory	July 2015	Aug 2015	Change
Detached	2728	2801	+73
Attached	1104	1130	+26
Apartment	1223	1215	-8
Total City of Calgary	5055	5146	+91

Calgary Sales:
Sales for all categories decreased this month. While the percentages look high the important thing to know is that sales in August have almost always been lower than July sales. Last year sales were down for the same period 18.1%

Sales	July 2015	Aug 2015	Change	% Change
Detached	1222	1000	-222	-18.2%
Attached	449	364	-85	-18.9
Apartment	324	279	-45	-13.8
Total City of Calgary	1995	1643	-352	-17.6

Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices:
Prices in all categories changed very little this month. Based on the absorption rate below my prediction is that detached homes could see small price increases, Attached homes should remain fairly flat while apartment condos should see very small price decreases.

Sales Prices	July 2015 Benchmark Price	Aug 2015 Benchmark Price	Change
Detached	515,300	516,000	+700
Attached	355,300	356,700	+1400
00Apartment	293,300	294,100	+800
Total City of Calgary	455,400	456,300	+900

Sales Prices “Year to Date”
Year to date prices – All categories have decreased except attached homes have gone up by $700.00

Sales Prices	Dec 31, 2014 Benchmark Price	Aug 2015 Benchmark Price	Change $	% Change
Detached	518,600	516,000	-2,600	-.50%
Attached	356,200	356,700	+700	+.19%
Apartment	300,400	294,100	-6,300	-2.1%
Total City of Calgary	459,500	456,300	-3,200	.69%

Absorption Rate (Months of Inventory) (the inventory divided by the number of sales in the last month). What does this mean you might ask?

Buyer’s Market	>4.0	Drives prices down
Balanced Market	Between 2.8 to 4.0	Prices typically remain stable
Seller’s Market	<2.8	Drives prices up

*** Absorption Rate:
In August the absorption rate increased for all categories. Inventory stayed almost the same while sales decreased meaning the number of months of supply increased. This leaves detached homes just in a seller’s market, attached homes in a balanced market while apartment condos have moved into a buyer’s market position.

Absorption Rate	July 2015	Aug 2015	Change
Detached	2.23	2.80	+.57
Attached	2.46	3.1	+.64
Apartment	3.77	4.35	+.58
Total City of Calgary	2.53	3.13	+60

**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.

If you know anyone else who might enjoy seeing our monthly summary please feel free to pass this on. Gord, Eric, Brent
TSW Real Estate Group

Posted in Articles, Blog, calgary realtor, Education, Home Buyers, Property Values | Comments Closed

CIR Realty’s Ultimate Family Vacation Contest

Tuesday, September 1st, 2015

CIR is offering one lucky family the chance to win an ultimate family vacation! This is an all expense paid trip to sunny San Diego. To enter:

1. Go to http://www.cirrealty.ca/contest/cir-contest.cir

2. Fill out your information

3. When they ask if you have a realtor tell them we sent you!

4. Fingers crossed!

Posted in Blog, Education, Just for Fun | Comments Closed

The Fear of Condo Fees

Monday, August 17th, 2015

Many people fear condo fees but don’t fully understand why they even exist.

Every condo board is different and, therefore, all condo fees are different.
When it comes to understanding fees, there are a couple of things to consider…
• What do the condo fees include? Some options are heat, water, and sewer.
• Are fees being collected for future repair? Shingles, exterior siding, elevators, and common area carpets are just a few of the things that must be repaired.
• Are there outside and public use areas to be maintained?

You must decide if the fees are worth it to you not to have to take care of costs and repairs like this yourself, as you must do with a home.

If you want to live in a nice, well kept building, condo fees are a necessity.

Let our professional staff help you

Posted in Condos, Education | Comments Closed

The Gord Piper & Associates Real Estate Blog

Archive for the ‘Education’ Category

2016 Economic Outlook

December Market Snapshot

November Market Snapshot

October Market Snapshot

Calgary’s Housing Market Outlook Fall 2015

Building a Wish List for Home Buyers

Are You being Mislead About True Home Values?

September Market Snapshot

CIR Realty’s Ultimate Family Vacation Contest

The Fear of Condo Fees

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