Heritage highrise Emerald awards Barron Building gets historic designation
Inner City Feature
heritage A10
AREF celebrates environmentalism industry A15
A8 – A9
FREE apr 11 to apr 17 2014 issue 04-14
real estate news from industry experts
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Young and the Restless kelsey hipkin, Reporter/Photographer
Numbers suggest many first-time buyers turning to condo market Cody Stuart
managing editor
C
algary is a young city, and it has the homebuyers to prove it. According to a survey from BMO Economics, Calgary is home to the youngest first-time homebuyers in all of Canada. The survey showed the average age of those Calgarians enter-
ing the housing market for the first time to be just 32-years-old compared to the national average of 36-years-old. “A number of factors and trends are causing young adults to push back major life transitions. When buying a first home, one of the most evident is rising real estate prices,” said Laura Parsons, mortgage expert, BMO Bank of Montreal. The trend to delay major decisions
SINGLE FAMILY
was shown by the fact the current generation of homeowners made their first purchase before the age of 30. A major factor pushing today’s homebuyers towards purchasing their first home later in life is the comparative cost of owning a home. The BMO report said the average home price in Canada has risen 83 per cent over the past 10 years. Demonstrating the eagerness of Calgarians to enter the housing market in spite of increasing costs, a report from The Conference Board of Canada and Genworth showed sales of existing condominium apartments experienced double digit gains in each of the
3367 MAR12 3501 APR12 3842 MAY12 3817 JUN12 3646 JUL12 3535 AUG12 3486 SEP12 3114 OCT12 2586 NOV12 1859 DEC12 2075 JAN13 2048 FEB13 2727 MAR13 2977 APR13 3311 MAY13 3199 JUN13 2917 JUL13 2791 AUG13 2789 SEP13 2705 OCT13 2171 NOV13 DEC13 1515 JAN14 1671 1894 FEB14 2052 MAR14
MLS® MONTH END INVENTORY* MAR ‘12 – MAR ‘14
*All statistics based on monthly data compiled by CREB® via MLS® activity.
last two years. According to CREB®, through the first three months of 2014, sales of condo apartments in Calgary have increased by 28 per cent. Having contemplated entering the housing market for the last year, Blair Berdusco purchased her downtown condominium in February. At 29-years-old, Berdusco fits perfectly with BMO’s picture of a first-time buyer in Calgary. In addition to affordability, she said lifestyle was a key feature in her purchase. “I went with a condo mostly because of price,” she said. “Other factors were the fact that I am a single female. A condo provides a bit more
CIBC: Real estate information availability a concern CREB® STAFF
A
report from CIBC took a look at questions regarding the Canadian housing sector that have no publicly announced answers. In a recent report, CIBC deputy chief economist Benjamin Tal explained having information about the importance of the real estate market to the economy could be a necessary condition to help prevent a collapse.
industry A3
At 29, Blair Berdusco has purchased her first home, an apartment condo in Highland Park.
security, it also provides for fewer upkeep responsibilities on my part. Also, I prefer living inner-city, or close to, really just not the suburbs, and the single-family homes closer to downtown are either too expensive or too old and require a lot of TLC.”
first-time buyers A3
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$900 million flood wish list
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