I'm committed to helping my clients buy, sell and enjoy their homes and I strive to provide an added level of value and service at every stage of the Real Estate transaction.Q&A: My lease is up in 6 months, when should I start house hunting?
Author: Michael Bladon | September 4, 2008
Q: I have a lease ending in about six months. How do I get ready to buy a place and when do I start?
A: You can start right away to familiarize yourself with the market and think generally about what type of home you’d like to buy. For example, do your budget and lifestyle lead you more towards a condominium or a single family home? What areas of the city or particular communities do you prefer? Consider what amenities it’s important for you to be close too and what level of access to major roads, LRT and buses you might need. Think about creating a custom home search for properties that match these requirements so you have an idea of pricing in the neighborhoods you like.
It’s not too early to speak to a mortgage agent regarding your options for buying. Find out as early as possible if you have any blemishes on your credit report so you can get them cleared up and have a clean mortgage application when the time comes.
When does your lease expire? Most properties are available with closing/possession dates ranging from 30-90 days from the time you make an offer to purchase. You should being looking at homes when you have 2-3 months remaining on your lease, this is not so soon that you’ll be rushed into making a purchase in a hurry, but it’s close enough that you’ll be ready to buy the right home when it comes along.
Consider ordering a free copy of my guide for first time home buyers. This is also a good time to make an initial contact with a Realtor. Discuss your needs and get your questions answered about the best way to proceed from here.
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Albertans out-earn the rest of Canada
Author: Michael Bladon | September 4, 2008
A recent article in the Calgary Herald cited a Stats Canada report indicating that, on average, Albertans are earning more than residents of any other province in Canada.
The article goes further to say that the “outlook for further increases is among the strongest in the country as the demand continues to outpace the supply of available workers in Canada’s tightest labour market.”
Household income is a major factor in supporting the Real Estate market and the positive outlook for employment across Alberta is another good sign for the future of our local Real Estate market.
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Calgary Home Podcast (004) - Renting Now, When You Should Start House Hunting
Author: Michael Bladon | September 3, 2008
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This week’s podcast focuses on a question received from the ‘Ask a Question’ feature of this site. What is a good time to start looking at houses to buy if you currently have a lease?
I review the August 2008 market statistics released by the Calgary Real Estate Board. See the whole report here.
Comments are feedback are most welcome, please email homes@michaelbladon.com
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August 2008 Market Report
Author: Michael Bladon | September 3, 2008
The total number of listings in the single family home market in Calgary has continued to fall from the high reached in May of over 7000 homes to 5,541 at the end of August. This is about 700 more listings than were on the market this time last year. At the same time the number of new listings brought on the market was 20% fewer than new listings last August.
The median sale price of a single family home was $398,000 and the average was $440,000. These prices are down compared with last year when we saw the all-time peak of the average sale price at over $500,000.
The numbers for condos are behaving in much the same way. There were 2,700 listings at the end of August compared with 1,855 last year. The number of new listings was down by 11% compared with last year. The median sale price was $268,500 and the average sale price was $287,000.
As you probably remember from any economics class you’ve ever taken, all things being equal when supply is high and demand is low, prices will be lower. When supply is low and demand is high, prices rise. This is exactly what we’ve seen over the past few years in Calgary. Starting last summer we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of homes on the market while demand has fallen off a little and the prices have moved down as a result.
There hasn’t been an alarming decline in prices overall and a lot of the difference in the averages might be caused by fewer expensive homes selling and a greater number of more modest homes being sold. For example, last August there were 55 homes sold below $300,000 while this August the number was 112, this would have a substantial effect on the average price even though a greater percentage of the homes sold over $1,000,000 this year is greater than last.
There are so many ways to analyze the statistics, it’s important to come to your own conclusions about the market. The headlines in the newspapers don’t tell the whole story. Inventory in the single family home market and in the overall Calgary MLS market has been coming down steadily for a few months and there are plenty of positive stories about the local economy and job market that give a good outlook for housing demand in the future. In the meantime there are some great opportunities for first time home buyers with selection and negotiating power they haven’t had over the past several years. I’ve been blogging some of these stories this week.
You can access the complete statistics package from the Calgary Real Estate Board from this link.
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Keep a local focus
Author: Michael Bladon | September 2, 2008
With all the high profile stories in the news about the American Real Estate market and other major markets across Canada, it’s becoming difficult to get a good sense of what’s happening in the local market. Before drawing conclusions about what these stories mean for Calgary or even a single neighborhood in the city, make sure you have the whole story.
For example, a recent article from the Herald News Services was headlined “Home Listings Break Record”. The focus of the article was the total number of resale homes on the market nationwide was over 80,000 for the first time. It would be easy to say this would apply to the whole country but the last sentence of the article reads “In contrast, listings in Alberta continued to fall in July - by two per cent - from their peak set in March.”
August stats for Calgary will be released by the Calgary Real Estate Board this week and I’ll post the summary on this site. Expect listing inventory, especially in the single family Calgary-metro home market to continue to decline.
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Labour Day and Labour Markets
Author: Michael Bladon | September 1, 2008
I hope you had a great Labour Day long weekend!
As most people prepare to head back to work, here’s some good news for Albertans. The Fraser Institute recently released a study rating Alberta’s labour market as the best performing in North America. Alberta was the only Canadian province to reach the top ten with B.C. and Saskatchewan (2nd and 3rd in Canada) rated at 11th and 14th overall.
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Calgary Home Podcast (003) - Agency Representation for Buyers
Author: Michael Bladon | August 30, 2008
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This week’s podcast focuses on agency relationships.
I’ll outline the different types of agency relationships you may encounter when purchasing a home and what you need to be aware of for each.
Comments are feedback are most welcome, please email homes@michaelbladon.com
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Friday Report - August 29, 2008
Author: Michael Bladon | August 29, 2008
Complete details on the July market activity will be posted next week. This update covers the activity for the period of August 1 - August 27, 2008
| Calgary Metro - Single Family | 2008 | 2007 | % Change |
| Sales | 1,008 | 1,124 | (10.3%) |
| New Listings Added | 2,050 | 2,396 | (14.4%) |
| Inventory | 5,933 | N/A | N/A |
| Sales to New Listings | 49% | 47% | 2% |
| Sales to Inventory | 17% | N/A | N/A |
| Calgary Metro - Condominium |
2008 | 2007 | % Change |
| Sales | 435 | 515 | (15.5%) |
| New Listings Added | 946 | 1,021 | (7.3%) |
| Inventory | 2,850 | N/A | N/A |
| Sales to New Listings | 46% | 50% | (4%) |
| Sales to Inventory | 15% | N/A | N/A |
This report is based on data made available by the Calgary Real Estate Board on August 29, 2008.
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Friday Report - August 22
Author: Michael Bladon | August 22, 2008
This update covers the activity for the period of August 1 - August 20, 2008
| Calgary Metro - Single Family | 2008 | 2007 | % Change |
| Sales | 758 | 831 | (8.8%) |
| New Listings Added | 1,573 | 1,784 | (11.8%) |
| Inventory | 6,007 | N/A | N/A |
| Sales to New Listings | 48% | 47% | 1% |
| Sales to Inventory | 13% | N/A | N/A |
| Calgary Metro - Condominium |
2008 | 2007 | % Change |
| Sales | 312 | 409 | (23.7%) |
| New Listings Added | 710 | 768 | (7.5%) |
| Inventory | 2,857 | N/A | N/A |
| Sales to New Listings | 44% | 53% | (9%) |
| Sales to Inventory | 11% | N/A | N/A |
This report is based on data made available by the Calgary Real Estate Board on August 22, 2008.
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Podcast (002) - Virtual Tour of Featured Home in Bridlewood
Author: Michael Bladon | August 21, 2008
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