The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) measures home price trends and home price inflation/deflation in residential markets within territories of participating real estate boards in Canada.  Here is a link to explain more about how it works, and how it will serve to provide more accurate information on your area.  Enjoy! Click Here

East Village enters next step in its rebirth   By Josh Skapin, Calgary Herald March 24, 2012   A sales centre shared by two developers launching major condo projects in East Village officially opens today. Calgary Municipal Land Corp., which is redeveloping the historic area near city hall, is holding its grand opening celebration of the East Village Experience Centre. The centre is hosting sales of the Evolution condo project by Embassy Bosa Inc. of Vancouver. The other project is called Fi ... Full Article...

Research and risk are key to buying a foreclosed home By Drew A. Penner, The Calgary Herald After a month-long search for the perfect home to remodel, Jason Holt and Jym Genesta were eager to follow the lead of their real estate agent to a foreclosure in the southeast. But when they walked inside the premises of a bank-owned home that was just hitting the market, the couple discovered a grisly scene. "It was like a total CSI DNAfest in here," says Holt, a manager at IKEA, pointing out the stai ... Full Article...

For resale house hunters, 2012 is lining up to be a year of stability. That's the message from this week's annual forecast conference of the Calgary Real Estate Board. "It's a nice, steady, relaxed atmosphere for buyers and sellers," says incoming president Bob Jablonski in his outlook for the coming year. CREB's forecast includes an average sale price of $476,000 for resale homes this year, up 2.1 per cent from 2011. It also predicts sales to reach 14,800, marking a 12.2-per-cent climb over 20 ... Full Article...

Fixed rates hit the basement Garry Marr Jan 12, 2012 – 2:58 PM ET   Canadians thinking about locking in their mortgage just got a compelling reason to do so — the lowest interest rate in history. The Bank of Montreal cut the rate on its closed five-year fixed mortgage to 2.99%, a half a percentage point drop that is expected to set up a wave of competition among the banks as they fight for market share in a shrinking real estate market. “That’s the lowest anybody has ... Full Article...

Sky-high rents. Heavy demand for downtown office space. A magnet for company headquarters. It may sound like Toronto, but this commercial real estate hotspot is decidedly farther west. Despite erratic markets and a lingering world recession, Calgary's office and commercial real estate market rivals Toronto as the most robust in the country, driven predominantly by the continued growth plans of energy companies. Click Here for Article   “I don't think Calgary likes being compared to Toront ... Full Article...

CALGARY — The Calgary region’s homebuilding industry is forecast to see a rise in activity. The Conference Board of Canada said Friday that short and long-term expectations for housing starts in the Calgary census metropolitan area were both positive. Read more:

Once upon a time, the country's economy seemed reliably second-rate. But following the U.S. banking crisis, its financial prudence suddenly looks like a very good investment. By Ken Kurson The idea that a Canadian dollar should always be worth about 15 percent less than its American counterpart used to be sacrosanct. Canadian band Shadowy Men on a Shadowy Planet — whose best known song is the theme to The Kids in the Hall — even has a song "5 American 6 Canadian." A couple of ye ... Full Article...

Bank of Canada keeps key rate on hold   OTTAWA — The Bank of Canada held its benchmark interest rate steady on Tuesday, as widely expected, as the global economy remained fragile amid debt problems in Europe and the United States. But the central bank hinted higher borrowing costs could be coming sooner than later if the domestic economy maintains steady growth... Read more:  Click Here

Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics Be a student of the real estate industry. Read as much as you can, learn as much as you can – and try to make sense of it. Take a look at this recent Blog from RECA!! I see headlines like this all the time and was quite impressed to see this article.  Let me know what you think!

Calgary June Building Permits Increase Previously-stalled project re-started Photograph by: Gavin Young, Calgary Herald CALGARY — The estimated construction value of building permit applications in the city for June hit $420 million, up 21 per cent compared with June 2010’s $346 million. But according to the City of Calgary that was down one per cent compared with the five-year average of $426 million. Compared with the 10-year average of $358 million, it was up 17 per cent....... ... Full Article...

Calgary’s Downtown Office Vacancy Rate Set to Balloon Report says Bow tower completion will open new space By Mario Toneguzzi June 29, 2011 11:13 AM Photograph by: Leah Hennel, Calgary Herald CALGARY — Calgary’s downtown office vacancy rate is forecast to balloon by the end of the year when the Bow tower, and its 1.8 million square feet, is added to the inventory, says a report released Wednesday by Base10 Capital Advisors. The ABCs of Commercial Real Estate – a Bear ... Full Article...

Job Seekers Heading Back to Alberta June 22, 2011 - Janet McFarland Job seekers are flooding back to Alberta after a two-year lull, lured by a resurgence in the oil patch and growing hiring demands. Alberta saw a net inflow of 5,300 people from other provinces in the first quarter of 2011 -- its highest rate of interprovincial migration since the first quarter of 2006, according to Statistics Canada preliminary population data reported Wednesday. The province saw steady inflows of workers from ... Full Article...

CALGARY — Alberta has the highest average monthly rental rate in the country and the Calgary region is among the highest in Canada of major centres, according to a survey released Thursday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The agency in its Rental Market Survey said provincially the highest average monthly rent for a two-bedroom unit in new and existing structures in April was Alberta’s $1,029 followed by British Columbia ($1,015) and Ontario ($980). Alberta’s average was u ... Full Article...

Calgary luxury home sales balloon, Up 51% this year Statistics show that 145 homes have sold from more than $1 million year-to-date until the end of April, a 51 per cent hike from the 96 sold for the same period in 2010. See the article below for more details. http://www.calgaryherald.com/business/Calgary+luxury+home+sales+balloon/4802468/story.html

New Regulations Will Help Protect Alberta Home Buyers! Take a look at this article. Home buyers deserve the highest standards when purchasing a home, and now the Alberta Government is helping to provide that! http://alberta.ca/home/NewsFrame.cfm?ReleaseID=/acn/201105/30398E54ACD32-D2FE-E300-6C6E9C6A37708D50.html