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FREE feb 11 to feb 17 2011 issue 01-04 www.creb.com
creb
®
supports secondary suites Secondary suites make housing more affordable, CREB President ®
CREB® Staff
C
REB® (Calgary Real Estate Board) is calling on Calgary’s city council to make secondary suites permitted in all residential neighbourhoods, provided that the homes remain owneroccupied, there is sufficient parking and safety concerns are met. The announcement comes on the heels of public statements Mayor Naheed Nenshi has made in support of making secondary suites legal across all residential neighbourhoods in Calgary. “Housing affordability and choice will be big contributors to Calgarians’ quality of life in the years to come and secondary suites have a role to play in this,” says Sano Stante, President of CREB®. “During the boom we were not able to offer enough affordable rental units, particularly for people looking to relocate to Calgary. In 2008, CREB® created an affordable housing task force and we actively lobbied the previous city council to relax rules regulating secondary suites. The City of Calgary and our current city council has the opportunity to cost-effectively provide more affordable
rental housing by allowing secondary suites in all residential neighbourhoods,” says Stante. Currently, in the City of Calgary, secondary suites are only permitted in select land use districts and only as a discretionary use in the R-2 district in both developed and developing areas. The current land use bylaw will not allow secondary suites to be developed on parcels that are currently designated R-1, without a formal land use redesignation. As a result, it is estimated that there are thousands of secondary suites in Calgary that are in non-compliance. The City of Calgary launched the Secondary Suite Grant Program in April 2009, which offers a grant of up to $25,000 to cover up to 70 per cent of the costs of developing or upgrading a legal secondary suite.
suites A3 A recent survey, conducted on behalf of the City of Calgary, found that nearly 75 per cent of Calgarians support secondary suites in their own neighbourhood, with less than half concerned about parking issues. cody stuart, CREB® Staff
news briefs
MLS MONTH END INVENTORY*
4,041 JAN09 4,352 FEB09 4,369 MAR09 4,130 APR09 3,861 MAY09 3,395 JUN09 3,314 JUL09 3,296 AUG09 3,149 SEP09 3,003 OCT09 2,658 NOV09 DEC09 2,054 2,513 JAN10 3,106 FEB10 4,014 MAR10 4,986 APR10 5,650 MAY10 5,991 JUN10 5,445 JUL10 5,413 AUG10 4,880 SEP10 4,709 OCT10 4,114 NOV10 3,041 DEC10 2,989 JAN11
®
SINGLE FAMILY HOMES – CALGARY METRO
*All statistics based on monthly data compiled by CREB® via MLS® activity.
CREB® Staff Due to a faster rebound of home sales in the second half of 2010, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) has revised its annual forecast into 2012. The revision reflects recent improvements in the economic outlook and increasing consumer confidence. National sales activity is now expected to reach 439,900 units in 2011, representing an annual decline of 1.6 per cent. In 2012, CREA forecasts that national sales activity will rebound by three per cent to 453,300 units, which is roughly on par with the ten-year average.
forecast revision A3
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CREA boosts resale forecast
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