blanket battle
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Situation critical
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City moves to shore up erosion along Calgary rivers
lori andrews A9
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municipal A15
Real Estate (Central)
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FREE nov 8 to nov 14 2013 issue 03-44
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autumn advance
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October sees rise in listings accompanied by sales and price increases Cody Stuart
managing editor
T
he leaves have fallen, but Calgary’s real estate market continued to heat up in October. Residential sales activity in the city totaled 1,953 units last month. That is still lower than levels seen during the mid-2000s, but it’s an 18 per cent rise over 2012 and pushing year-todate volume increases to just over 10 per cent. October also saw a rise in the number of homes up for grabs in Calgary, as the number of new listings reached 2,522 units in October, a nine per cent increase over the previous year. “Price growth and tighter market conditions have encouraged some of the recent rise in new listings,” said Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB® chief economist. “This is a trend worth noting as the rise is easing some of the tightness in the market. Despite some movement, seller’s market conditions persist.” First-time homeowner Sarah Maynes can attest to the market conditions greeting current buyers in the city. Having just moved into her Inglewood home in late October, Maynes said her experience came with some anxiety. “Finding our house was actually a lot more stressful than we had anticipated,” said Maynes. “Our REALTOR® took us out to look at a bunch of properties so we had a good idea of what was out there in our price range. There were quite a few places but most didn’t meet our expectations. When a decent listing came on the market they seemed to get snatched up right away.” Maynes, who along with her boyfriend had been planning on buying sometime in the next year after saving for a down payment, eventually put in an offer on a home that had been put up for sale just hours earlier. Getting the home for just under the asking price, Maynes said the couple was even willing to relax some of their priorities to secure get the home they wanted.
statistics A3
cody stuart, Managing Editor
SINGLE FAMILY
Province improves transparency for condo buyers 1336
1354
1517
1575
1209 1006
1174
1132
1284
745
773
OCT11 NOV11 DEC11 JAN12 FEB12 MAR12 APR12 MAY12 JUN12 JUL12 AUG12 SEP12 OCT12 NOV12 DEC12 JAN13 FEB13 MAR13 APR13 MAY13 JUN13 JUL13 AUG13 SEP13 OCT13
722
879
962
988
1036
1638
1611 1386
1480
1609
1582
1576
1710
1766
MLS® NUMBER OF UNITS SOLD* OCT ‘11 – OCT ‘13
*All statistics based on monthly data compiled by CREB® via MLS® activity.
CREB® STAFF
A
s part of a greater review of the province’s Condominium Property Act, the Redford government is making it mandatory for developers to be more transparent about condo fees. With some condo buyers expressing concern about higher fees than were initially disclosed, the move will provide buyers with a standardized disclosure package, including an operating budget, at the time of purchase.
provincial A3
contents news briefs
A3
test your knowledge A6 Winter activities
event listing
A6
mls® Statistics
A8
October 2013
mortgage rates
A10
commercial
A12
map
B1
open houses
B15