Andrew's Blog - The Calgary Condo Realtor

Calgary's Top 20 Communties - December 2008

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 09:30:14 -0600

I've added a new feature to my website today, the Hottest 20 Communities in Calgary (in terms of MLS sales turnover). Here's the latest numbers as of December 2008:

Top 20 Hot Communities
as of December 1, 2008

Rank	Community	Average Absorption Rate (last 6 months)
1	Scarboro	2.14
2	Midnapore	2.20
3	Douglasglen	2.25
4	Collingwood	2.27
5	Vista Heights	2.53
6	Macewan Glen	2.60
7	Sundance	2.71
8	Lake Bonavista Downs	2.93
9	Lake Bonavista	2.95
10	Country Hills	2.96
11	Hidden Valley	2.98
12	Coventry Hills	3.08
13	Cougar Ridge	3.09
14	St Andrew's Heights	3.13
15	University Heights	3.15
16	East Mayland Heights	3.19
17	Riverbend	3.21
18	Evergreen	3.25
19	Fairview	3.27
20	Dalhousie	3.32

Calgary Market Report - October 13, 2008

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Mon, 13 Oct 2008 12:49:22 -0500

By Andrew Kyle, B.ASc., Realtor

A Tale of Two Markets

Note: I am late in writing my market report this month (October 13) which is perhaps a good thing, because I am factoring in the latest financial turmoil from the world markets into the below report.

The spread between the Single Family (SF) House markets and the Condominium market in Calgary continues to grow, with the difference between the two markets being higher than it has ever been since I have been tracking the data. Condos reached a new high Absorption Rate, and the drop in median price of condos is starting to become what I would describe as "dramatic". Meanwhile, houses stabilized somewhat and median prices continue to slowly come down.

Condos: The absorption rate for condos at the end of September 2008 stands at 6.08 - a new high, and now breaking the psychological barrier of 6 - so that is more than 6 months of inventory of condos currently listed on the MLS system. The median price for 2 and 1 bedroom condos now stand at $262.5k and $222.0k respectively. This is down from $300.0k and $255.5k 12 months ago - price drops of 12.5% and 13.1% respectively in the last 12 months. In the last 3 months alone, median prices have fallen 6.9% and 4.1% for 2 and 1-bed condos respectively, supporting my feeling from the street that the fall in condo prices is starting to gain momentum and becoming "dramatic". See Chart A - Absorption Rate and Chart C - Median Prices

Note: See my market report from February 2008 for some insight into why the difference between the condo and house markets.

Houses: The absorption rate for houses at the end of September 2008 stands at 4.97 - still well in the territory to be considered a strong "buyer's market" but a slight improvement over the 5.12 it was last month and better than the high water mark of 5.47 in May of this year. So the SF House market seems to have stabilized and is very slowly improving over the last 6 months. Median prices continue to fall though as one would expect in a strong "buyer's market". The median price now stands at $395k, down from $420.5k (-6.1%) 12 months ago. The median price of houses three months ago was $408k, a drop of 3.1%. So the SF House market continues to be very soft and prices are falling, but not as dramatically as with condos. See Chart A - Absorption Rate and Chart C - Median Prices

View FullSize Chart

Advice For Sellers:
My advice to sellers continues to be to emphasize the critical importance of pricing your property for the new reality. It is crucial to get ahead of the price drops in this market. Most sellers instinctively want to err on the high side when choosing a list price - it is natural to do so. Frankly, it is also a mistake in this market. If anything you want to err on the aggressive side with respect to list price in this market.

For condo sellers this advice is even more important. There is 6 months of inventory of condos on the MLS system - and then much more in the form of new condos not listed on the MLS. And your options are running out too - the official vacancy rate in Calgary has risen from 2.0% in the spring of this year to 4.0% this month (and unofficially my sources in the property management business tell me it is now more like 4.5%). So I was advising many potential sellers who were reluctant to price their property for the new reality to consider renting out their condos instead - but now, so many people are doing just that, that the softness has spread from the condo resale market to the rental market. Condo sellers, you are in a very tough spot with limited options I'm afraid.

Advice For Buyers:
It's a great time to buy - simple as that. Prices are falling and the selection is great, even in the tighter SF House market. And if you are a condo buyer, well congratulations! It is an especially great time to buy a resale condo. If you are concerned that prices may fall even further and are wondering if you should wait, see my market report from last month where I discuss in detail some of the factors you should consider in deciding whether now is the time to buy for you.

Mortgage Availability Suddenly Becomes an Issue

Normally the mortgage rate update is the briefest part of my monthly market report, but there have been significant developments in the last month (and days) that are worth mentioning.

First, the "credit crunch" has hit home in Canada in the last few weeks. There is not nearly as much money out there for lenders to lend to home buyers. As a result, some people who would have been able to get a mortgage just a month ago will no longer qualify or will only qualify at higher interest rates or with a larger downpayment. These include the self employed, the underemployed, people who are a bit stretched financially and people with less-than-ideal credit. It is noticeably more difficult to get a mortgage today than it was just a few weeks ago.

Second, even though the Bank of Canada has lowered their trend-setting Overnight Rate (in a dramatic coordinated move with other federal banks around the world), it is not showing up in mortgage rates. In fact mortgage rates, both fixed and variable, are on the rise. See the weekly mortgage rate trend chart here. There are a few different reasons for this: 1. Banks are trying to recover their losses on the financial markets. 2. Banks/lenders have less money to lend, so they feel they can charge higher rates (supply and demand). 3. Banks/lenders are concerned about falling house prices and mortgage-defaults, and want higher returns because of what they see as higher risk.

So as a buyer, it is now more important than ever to get a mortgage pre-approval before home shopping. And as a seller it is now more important than ever to confirm your buyer has mortgage pre-approval before accepting an offer. The days of easy mortgage-access are over for now.

Andrew Kyle, B.ASc., is a REALTOR^® with Royal LePage Foothills and a Certified Condominium Specialist.

Calgary Market Report - August 2008

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 10:37:27 -0500

Strong Buyer's Market Continues

The Calgary real estate market remains in territory that I think is best described as a "very much a buyer's market" according to the July 2008 MLS stats. Total Calgary Metro listings at the end of July was 9217, and properties sold was 1848, yielding an overall Absorption Rate of 5.15. (See Chart A and Chart A2) Although the number of listings continues to come down since the "high water mark" of 10,617 in May 2008, there are still far more properties on the market than there are buyers to absorb them. This continues to bring prices down as sellers who are serious about selling adjust to the facts of the market.Single Family (SF) House sales continue to outpace condos. The absorption rate for SF Houses stands at 4.92 at the end of July and for condos it is 5.72 a difference of 0.8. This is a significant gap and something condo owners need to consider when selling. Overall the market is very slow, and for condos it is even slower. This is not a monthly statistical "blip" - this divergence of the SF house and condo markets began in December 2007 and the gap has grown since. I predict condos will continue to lag behind houses in both sales and price for another 12 months or so, until the inventory of new condos coming on stream is absorbed. This bodes very well for condo buyers, as prices are coming down, but obviously bodes ill for condo sellers for the same reason.

(For interactive versions of all the charts in this report click here)

Median prices stand at $408,500 for houses, $267,500 for 2-bed condos, and $235,000 for 1-bed condos at the end of July. In July 2007 median prices stood at $435,000, $295,000, $255,000, for SF Houses, 2-bed and 1-bed condos respectively. So the drop in median prices over the last 12 months: $26,500 (6.1%), $27,500 (9.3%), and $20,000 (7.8%) for SF Houses, 2-bed and 1-bed condos respectively. Note that the drop in median price of 2-bed condos is greater than that of SF Houses - evidence that the lagging condo market is already showing itself in fairly dramatic price drops in condos. See Chart C.

For Sellers:
So my advice to sellers is the same as last month but perhaps with stronger emphasis; It is crucial that you price your property for the new reality - not just taking into account the price drops of the last year, but that even with those price drops, the market is still no where close to being in balance with respect to supply and demand. So in this market, if you are a seller, you want to get ahead of the curve - if you price your property incorrectly, it will simply sit there, and by the time you reduce the price, the market will have adjusted further and you will still be behind the game. Consider your list price very carefully - you want to be ahead of the curve, not behind it, in this market.

Sellers should also consider spending money to sell their home which they wouldn't in a more balanced market. For example, staging a vacant home or bringing in a staging consultant to "freshen up" a furnished home. These can be expensive services, but with so many homes on the market - a $300 to $5000 staging can often have a greater effect than a further list price adjustment of say, $10,000. Bringing in handyman to do minor repairs and upgrades can also be a wise expenditure in this very competitive market.

For Buyers:
My advice to buyers is that if the time is right for you personally to buy a new home then do it - you've got a great selection, and you can get more for money (almost 10% more to be precise) than last year. It is called a "buyer's market" for a reason - this is your market!

I get some buyers asking me if they should wait to see if prices drop further. My answer is that it depends on your personal situation and your priorities. If getting the lowest possible price was the only consideration in when to buy a home then there is really only one time to buy a home - when the market bottoms out before it begins to rise again. But there is problem with that; we never know when this instant in time is upon us - we only know looking back after the market bottomed out. But even more significantly, getting the lowest possible price is just one of the important considerations in when to buy. For example, you also want to consider the selection out there - the more homes on the market, the more likely you are to get everything you want in a new home. Also, if a first time buyer, you want to consider whether the amount you will save by waiting will be more or less than the amount you will save in rent by buying now. Also, you will want to consider your motivation for buying - if you want your own place, for example, to get away from an annoying roommate, then is it really worth putting off this dream for another 6 months to potentially get a better price?

So the answer to the "when to buy" question is a very personal one - it all depends on your priorities. But that is what good Realtors help their clients do - examine your priorities, talk about the pros and cons, and give you all the information for you to make the right decisions. If you are thinking of buying, call your favorite Realtor (suggestion: me) and schedule an appointment to discuss the market and your situation.

Mortgage Rates Steady
Only minor changes in mortgage rates this month. The one-year and five-year closed rates (average of all lenders) stand at 6.18% and 6.38% respectively. The variable rate is 4.35%. In the July, the Bank of Canada declined to change its trend-setting overnight lending rate - the Board of Governors is not scheduled to meet again until early September, so expect no significant changes in August unless there is an unexpected surpise in the financial markets. See my Mortgage Rate Chart here.

Andrew Kyle, B.ASc., is a REALTOR^® with Royal LePage Foothills and a Certified Condominium Specialist.

Subprime US Banking Financial Crisis Explained in 3 Parts

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sun, 20 Jul 2008 10:06:45 -0500

I came across this interesting 3-part series of videos on YouTube today. It's an explanation of what exactly happened regarding the sub-prime mortgage crisis. "How we got here" in otherwords. It's interesting stuff - good background info for Realtors, mortgage professionals and our clients. The video blogger is David Waring and he really seems to know his business. He runs the investing site: http://www.informedtrades.com

Part 1:

Part 2:

Part 3:

Calgary Weekly Market Update - July 19, 2008

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sat, 19 Jul 2008 10:54:31 -0500

Below is my weekly market stats update. I call your attention to a growing gap between the condo and house markets (see the second chart and the red arrrow). If this trend continues I'll write in detail about it in next month's Monthly Market Report (in about 2 weeks). In the meantime... my advice is be careful if you are selling a condo - it is crucial that it be priced right if you are serious about selling it. For background you may want to read my Monthly Market Report from February 2008 or my blog post here from a few weeks ago where I talk about predictions regarding this emerging trend.

July 19, 2008	Current Listings	Sold in Last 30 Days	Absorption Rate (?)
Single family (SF) Houses	6468	1440	4.49
Condos	3028	555	5.46
Combined (SF and Condos)	9496	1995	4.76

What is Absorption Rate? Click here for an explanation

Looking for Andrew's Monthly Market Report? Click Here.

Click on any chart to enlarge.

Bank of Canada Holds Line on Interest Rates

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 08:08:04 -0500

The Bank of Canada declined to change its trend setting interest rate (aka "key policy rate" or "overnight rate") on Tuesday July 15. It stands at 3.00% where it has been since April 22.

The Bank says that three major developments are affecting the Canadian economy at this time:

the protracted weakness in the U.S. economy;
ongoing turbulence in global financial markets (ie subprime mortgage fallout);
and sharp increases in many commodity prices.

The Bank says that the first two developments are evolving roughly in line with their expectations, however commodity prices are continuing to outstrip earlier expectations resulting in higher than desired inflation.

Bond yields have come down slightly as a result of the Bank's announcement which may bring fixed mortgage rates down slightly in the coming weeks.

Current average mortgage rates across Canada are as follows:

**Average Mortgage Rates - All Lenders**
Updated: 12-Jul-08
	Current (12-Jul-08)	Change in Last Week	Change in Last 4 Weeks
Variable Rate	4.35%	0.01 %	- %
One Year, Closed	6.15%	0.00 %	0.01 %
Five Year, Closed	6.35%	-0.01 %	-0.02 %

Source data provided courtesy of Calgary Real Estate News

Click here for my weekly update of average mortgage rates.

Worried About a Reno-disaster? CRHBA Has a Renovator Referral System

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 19:12:39 -0500

Thinking of doing some renovations on your Calgary area home, but concerned about the horror stories you have seen and heard, such as on "Holmes on Homes", the popular HGTV show? The Calgary Region Home Builders Association (CRHBA) , part of the Canadian Home Builders Association (CHBA) may have the answer for you.

CRHBA has rolled out it's participation in http://www.renomark.ca/Calgary, a non-profit website it says will help refer home owners to reputable home renovators in Calgary.

Renomark works, they say, by ensuring that all member contractors do the following:

They must be members in good standing of the CRHBA, must abide by it's Code of Ethics, and attend 4 CRHBA training sessions per year to maintain their level of knowledge.
They must provide clients with detailed written contracts and scope of work. And they must return all phone calls to clients within two business days.
They must provide a minimum two-year warranty on work.
They must have WCB coverage where required and must only work with subcontractors with who have the same.
They must carry all applicable business licenses and liability insurance.

I've begun referring clients who ask me for a referral to a renovation company to renomark.ca. It seems like a good system that weeds out the fly-by-night disaster contractors. To learn more visit http://www.renomark.ca.

Weekly Calgary Market Update - July 12, 2008

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 12:37:40 -0500

For the "live" version of this report with interactive graphs click here.

July 12, 2008	Current Listings	Sold in Last 30 Days	Absorption Rate (?)
Single family (SF) Houses	6505	1476	4.41
Condos	3075	567	5.42
Combined (SF and Condos)	9580	2043	4.69

What is Absorption Rate? Click here for an explanation

Looking for Andrew's Monthly Market Report? Click Here.

New Insured-Mortgage Rules in Canada

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Thu, 10 Jul 2008 13:36:48 -0500

No more 40 year mortgages and 100% financing!

On July 9 2008 the federal government announced that effective October 15 2008 government-backed mortgages (those with less than 20% down) through CMHC and the private mortgage insurers will have these restrictions;

No more 40 year amortizations. The maximum amortization period will now be 35 years.
No more 100% or 97% financing. The minimum down payment will now be 5%.
The establishment of a minimum credit score requirement. It will be 620.

The finance department says the motivation for these changes is "...to ensure Canada's housing market remains strong and to reduce the risk of a U.S.-style housing bubble developing in Canada." Read into that "We don't want our own canadian-created 'sub-prime-like' mess."

Edit/Addendum:

Here is the official press release: http://www.fin.gc.ca/news08/08-051e.html

And here is the "Backgrounder", which has all the official details: http://www.fin.gc.ca/news08/data/08-051_1e.html

realtor.ca

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 17:13:29 -0500

So what do all Realtors think of the new www.realtor.ca? It is up and running now and publicly accessible, although I see they are not forwarding www.mls.ca to it just yet (still a few kinks to work out I suspect). I think it is nice, but needs some tweeking:

1. It's a bit awkward to zero in from the provincial level to the level of detail that I think most people will want - it took me about 7 clicks and 30+ seconds to zero in on downtown Calgary after I selected Alberta.

2. It's got a bug - it wouldn't let me close my browser when I was done viewing the site.

3. It shows property addresses. I am surprised by this, as this is a key incentive for people to contact the listing Realtor (will they start contacting our clients directly? Will FSBO systems start contacting our clients using the addresses?). And the Calgary Board (CREB) has a rule that only people who have a relationship with a Realtor (ie are registered online with the realtor) can view listing addresses on our own websites, so realtor.ca seems to be breaking one of the CREB rules by showing addresses.

4. You can't zoom in the map far enough in my opinion.

But overall it looks pretty good.

Calgary Real Estate Market Report, July 3, 2008 - Market Stabilizes, But Time For a Reality Check?

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Thu, 03 Jul 2008 15:38:22 -0500

The Calgary real estate market has moved toward a more balanced state after 4 months of sliding farther into a buyers market, according to the MLS stats for June 2008. The overall Absorption Rate stands at 5.11 at the end of June, with Condos lagging behind at 5.89 and Single Family Houses (SF) leading the way at 4.81. That is a fairly significant gap between houses and condos, 1.09, and in fact the biggest gap since I have been tracking the statistics in this way (July 2006). Condo sellers, in particular it seems, continue to struggle with a lack of buyers willing to pay their asking price. See Chart A.

In the 12 months from June 2007 to June 2008 the median prices for a house, 2-bedroom condo and 1-bedroom condo have dropped $31k, $28k and $19k respectively. In terms of percentage: 7%, 9%, and 7.5% respectively. See Chart C.

In spite of the prices of oil and natural gas being at all-time highs, there are economic factors that seem to be keeping buyers, particularly condo buyers, from buying. Theses include the North American economic recession, lower migration to Alberta than in recent years, inflation fears, threats of rising interest rates, and housing affordability issues. All this economic uncertainty seems to be weighing heavily on the minds of buyers.

The average Days on Market (DOM) of properties sold in June was 45, but keep in mind this is simply the properties that DID sell, most of which were priced well for the market in order to sell. See Chart B. The Absorption Rate tells us that there are 5.1 months of properties in the MLS system. For sellers, it is important that you understand that the era when most properties in Calgary would sell in 30 to 45 days or less are gone for now, and you should lower your expectations, and most importantly build this new reality into your moving/job/step-up plans accordingly. If you are serious about selling, it is crucial that you price the property for the new market - properties that are priced well are still selling - there are buyers out there, it's just that they have the pick of the market at this time, especially in the condo market, so they are simply bypassing overpriced properties.

For buyers, it is a great time to buy - you have a great selection and prices have dropped. I know some are predicting more price drops in the future but I think this is uncertain - as of this month the market seems to have stabilized for now. It is unclear to me if prices will fall further in Calgary - it is strange times we live in with what I am calling a "bipolar economy" here in Canada. I'm advising my buyer clients to look at their personal situation AND the numbers: if they want or need to buy a new (or first) home, then don't hesitate because it is a GREAT buyer's market, but if they aren't certain that a new home is right for them at this time, or if they are uncomfortable with the thought that their new home might fall in value in the short term, then they may want to sit on the sidelines for now. In short, it is a great time to buy in Calgary, but only if your situation is such that you aren't going to lose sleep over the economic speedbumps that seem to be the reality for now.

Mortgage Rate Report: Rates May Have Bottomed Out For Now

Average interest rates in western Canada stand at 6.37% and 6.16% for five-year and one-year close mortgages respectively. And the variable rate is 4.33%. See chart here. I am told by my mortgage broker network that interest rates have probably bottomed out for now, or nearly so, and should rise slowly for the second half of the year. If you are thinking of buying, go get that mortgage pre-approval now to lock in at the lower rates.

Andrew Kyle, B.ASc., is a REALTOR^® with Royal LePage Foothills and a Certified Condominium Specialist.

The Xenex on 12th

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 16:07:54 -0500

The Xenex on 12th is nearing completion - a sure sign of that is they took the crane down on Saturday (see image taken from my balcony on the 10th floor of the Emerald Stone). Another sign is, well, they told me so... move-ins are scheduled to begin November-December of this year. ;o)

This building, built by Bucci Developments, features central air conditioning, titled single parking stalls, and non-titled storage lockers. One thing I like about this building, and I think they are fulfilling a niche demand here, is the units are larger than most newer highrises in Calgary - most of the 1 bedroom units are in the 700 sqft range, and the 2+dens are 1200 to 1500 sqft - these are not tiny condos!

But here is the real reason I am bringing up this building at this time... they are now offering to pay Buyer Realtor commissions, meaning you can be represented by a Realtor in the purchase of one of their remaining units. If you have been shying away from buying a new condo because the developer won't pay Realtor fees, thus encouraging you to go unrepresented into a complex purchase then this building might be for you.

Why would you need a Realtor representing you in the purchase of a NEW condo you might ask? Well here is just one example. There is a new building in Calgary, which I won't mention by name, which opened a year or 2 ago where each unit in the building, from the small, inexpensive 1-bed units near the ground floor, to the two 2,000 sqft penthouses, pays the exact same condo fee. So regardless of size, and value, each unit pays the same condo fee - in effect the small 1-bedroom units are subsidizing the heating bills of the penthouses which are 4 times the size and 6 times the value. Do you think this will eventually affect the value of those 1-bedroom units? I would think so. Is this legal? Yes, in Alberta it is. Was this pointed out to the buyers of those 1-bedroom units in advance? I don't know, but if they were my clients you bet it would have been pointed out to them as we poured over the condo docs together!

That is just one reason you might want a Realtor representing you when you buy a new condo. Other reasons include:

An assessment of the fair market value of the unit you are considering buying for comparison to the developers asking price.
An opinion on the neighbourhood and exact location of both the building and the unit within the building (is the garbage chute going to be beside your bedroom?!).
To point out things you may not otherwise think of such as noise and light considerations with the unit.
And help with a proper inspection/walkthrough when the developer turns over the unit to you.

Another interesting feature of this building is the layouts are very much oriented toward "work from home" people. Most of the 1+den and 2+den units have the large den by your front door so you can meet clients without them seeing your sink full of dirty dishes. Ideal for the increasing number of folks (like Realtors amd Mortgage Brokers) who meet clients at a home office.

Check out my blog entry on the Xenex on 12th for more details, and then contact me for a rundown of the floorplans/units left and asking prices.

Too Many Condos Coming on Stream, Too Few Buyers?

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 22:31:49 -0500

The June 2008 edition of CMHC’s “Housing Now” report for Calgary and area was issued on Sunday.

June 2008 Housing Now - http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/64167/64167_2008_M06.pdf

We have reached a new record of multi-family (apartment condos, townhouses and semi-attached homes) homes under construction. The total in May was 11,915, of which 9,432 were apartment-style condos. This is worrisome considering the condo market stands at an Absorption rate of 5.2 this week, There are already considerably more condos on the market than buyers. The silver lining though is that the inventory of “completed but not occupied” units actually decreased from April to May – 655 new units were completed but 673 units were absorbed (by sales or rentals). The fairly healthy rental market (2.0% vacancy rate currently) is perhaps saving most condo investors from grief in the short term.

It remains to be seen if the record number of multis under construction is going drive the condo market down even further. The construction of apartment-style condos in particular are very susceptible market slowdowns as we are in right now. This is because of the long construction times of these complexes. Developers simply cannot react to market swings when the development time of a complex is 3 years or more.

So expect to see more and more developers of new condos offering to pay Realtor commissions to buyers who chose to have the protection of being represented by one, This is to ensure they do not get stuck with too many units that they cannot sell. An example is the “Xenex on 12th“ which is now offering Realtor commissions for Buyer’s Realtors. So it is a great time for the buyer who has been interested in a new condo but has stayed away from them for want of the protection a condo Realtor can give them.

As for the question I asked in the title of this article, “Too Many Condos Coming on Stream, Too Few Buyers?” The answer right now is clearly “Yes” as evidenced by the Absorption Rate for condos being 5.2, but it remains to be seen if the situation will get worse before it gets better because of the record number of condos under construction. Can young professionals migrating to the city for all the jobs the oil boom is providing absorb the record number of new apartment condos currently under construction? That is the key – time will tell.

- Andrew Kyle

Figures are copyright CMHC.

Sitemaps and Permalinks

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Mon, 30 Jun 2008 00:52:13 -0500

I was recently benchmarking against other Realtor websites in my area which are ranked highly on Google and I noticed that the site ranked #1 for "real estate" in my area has "permalinked" his entire site. Not just his blog, but his entire site. So all his MLS search pages are permalinked (with the community name in the url). He must have 9000+ pages/urls. And then all these urls are in a 30 page sitemap at the bottom of his main page.

What do you SEO experts think? Is this a good idea? My blog is permalinked but my main site is not (it is all dynamic urls), is this something I should consider? Taken to an extreme, as this site was, could that be interpreted as "stuffing" a site?

Calgary Real Estate Market Weekly Update - June 28, 2008

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sat, 28 Jun 2008 09:18:52 -0500

Here is the weekly market update for Calgary. The deviation between condos and houses continues. If you look at Houses-only things are looking somewhat rosey with the Absorption Rate moving rapidly in the direction of a balanced market. But condos, which are one third of the market in the city of Calgary, are pulling the numbers down.

June 28, 2008	Current Listings	Sold in Last 30 Days	Absorption Rate (?)
Single family (SF) Houses	6942	1545	4.49
Condos	3263	628	5.2
Combined (SF and Condos)	10205	2173	4.7

What is Absorption Rate? Click here for an explanation

Looking for Andrew's Monthly Market Report? Click Here.

Happy Canada Day Weekend!

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Fri, 27 Jun 2008 16:14:10 -0500

Happy Canada Day Weekend, and a premature Happy Canada Day (Tuesday July 1) to all my fellow Canucks!!! The weather out west is supposed to be very nice, I hope it will be everywhere across the country too.

Don't work too hard this weekend if you can. At the very least, take some time off to barbeque and be with friends and family.

Do people shop for houses on a Canada Day weekend? I hope so.

How to insert the Walkscore tile into any webpage.

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 19:17:51 -0500

Walkscore is cool. Here is how you can share the walkscore of any address with the world via any webpage you have the ability to add to or edit (and which allows javascript):

Go to walkscore.com.

Click on "Real Estate Tile"

Enter the address of the property. Click "Update Tile".

Enter the domain where you are going to insert the walkscore (ie yourdomain.com). Click "Get WSID".

Then cut and paste the resulting html/javascript code into the page (make sure you are editting in HTML mode, not wysiwyg mode).

OPTIONAL: To change the width of the tile to fit the width of the page/blog, change this part of the html: var ws_width = "500" 500 (corresponding to 500 pixels) should be about right for most blog pages.

That's it - oh so simple.

Below is an example of the walkscore of my Broker's office.

Hopefully Walkscore will add more features to this tile in the future - a much smaller/simpler tile that displays just the score might be very useful for example.

I hope this is helpful.

ps. You can even automate your listing pages to insert the address into the Walkscore html/javascript automatically and display a Walkscore for every listing on your site. See what I mean here great Connaught condo for sale But unless you are your own webmaster/programmer, you will probably need them to do it for you.

Technology Can be a Double-edged Sword

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:51:12 -0500

My main desktop computer has been acting up for weeks, was in the shop for the first two days of this week, then within 24 hours of getting it back it had a meltdown. This was yesterday. The timing could not have been worse - I had work out the ying-yang.

So now I have a brand new desktop computer sitting on my desk, and it is going to take me days to install software, transfer files, and set it up the way I like to work.

When I retire I am going to become a luddite.

I think I need an SEO consultant

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:41:39 -0500

I have been thinking about hiring an SEO consultant. I have a bit of money to invest, and even though I know the internet fairly well, I think I could benefit from some coaching and direction. I have my activerain blog. I have my google adwords account. And I have my outside blog for Calgary condo real estate. But I think I need some expert help in the form of an SEO consultant.

Any recommendations?

Do you think I should go local? Or go with a consultant who is not local but knows real estate? Or neither, and simply go with a good SEO consultant?

Which begs the questions, how do you tell a good SEO consultant from a bad one?

Any thoughts and suggestions are welcome.

Fat Realtor on Scooter?

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:28:28 -0500

I drive way too much, and it costs way too much.

With the price of gas at an all-time high I have been thinking about all this driving I do. Like many of you I have a mid-to-large sized vehicle so I can drive buyers around comfortably. But I find that about 75% of the time it is just me in the vehicle - shuttling documents around and meeting sellers and so on. So I have been thinking about gettting a scooter as a second business vehicle. I was talking it over with one of my colleagues, Sabrina Wieranga, the other day, and the idea is stuck in my head.

Anyone else considered this or is doing this now? What do you think are the pros and cons?

Cutting Corners, Sigh.

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 12:14:31 -0500

Last night I was doing a CMA for a seller and was checking out the current actives in the building (the competition).

One of the listings was just in horrible shape:

- there was no neighbourhood selected (so presumably it was not showing up on realtor searches for the neighbourhood).

- there were only 5 pictures and they were so dark that I couldn't even tell if the counter was granite or not and if the appliances were stainless steel or not.

- there was no condo information, except the condo plan number - no legal unit number, no condo fee.

- the "exposure" field was wrong - it was on the other side of the building than indicated - key for this particular building because of the local geography.

And it had been on the market for more than 6 months - extended 3 times!

Unbelievably sloppy work. Embarassing. Who ARE these Realtors?

I think my local real estate board needs to do more audits and enforce the "duty of proper care and skill" rule.

Sorry to be so negative, but, WOW, you know?

Another story from the condo trenches...

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:58:45 -0500

I recently had another example of the importance of buyers doing a condo document review before a firm purchase of a condo.

I was representing a young couple in their 20s in the purchase of their first home - they were looking for a starter condo. They found a little gem and their offer was accepted. On the last day before the deal was to go firm I sat down with them and reviewed the condo docs with them with a third party condo expert that I had hired to help us go through the condo docs. We were going through the bylaws when we were informed that it was an age-restricted condo, 18+ only. I was surprised because the listing mentioned nothing about this - an omission. But I was even more surprised by the reaction of my clients - they seemed very concerned. Right away I knew what was up. I asked the condo doc expert to give us a few minutes in private, and my clients informed me that she was several months pregnant. They had not yet told me because they hadn't told all of their families yet.

So that deal died right there on the spot. But thank goodness we took the time to review the condo docs!

The first rule of condo purchase: NEVER, NEVER, NEVER, NEVER buy a condo without a careful review of the condo docs.

It worked out well for these clients - we got them into an even nicer condo several weeks later, but I cringe at the thought that their first home purchase would have turned into their first home sale in just a matter of months.

- Andrew Kyle

Calgary Real Estate Market Weekly Update - June 21, 2008

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 11:13:28 -0500

It looks like the trend to a more balanced market continues. Solds are up and inventories are coming down. You can say you heard it here first - 2 weeks before you will read about it in the Herald.

June 21, 2008	Current Listings	Sold in Last 30 Days	Absorption Rate (?)
Single family (SF) Houses	7058	1485	4.75
Condos	3308	645	5.13
Combined (SF and Condos)	10366	2130	4.87

What is Absorption Rate? Click here for an explanation

- Andrew Kyle

CREA and Fintrac

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:49:37 -0500

So what does everyone think of the new Fintrac requirements to take effect in a matter of days?

http://www.realtorlink.ca/content/fintrac/record_keeping.htm

They seem pretty basic to me. I am waiting for direction from my Broker as to exactly how he interprets the rules and what the brokerage's policy is going to be, but it looks to me like in most normal situations clients will be required to show me ID when we prepare a transaction and I will record their info on this form or a brokerage-specific similar form:

http://www.realtorlink.ca/content/fintrac/pdfs/individual_client_identification_form_pt.pdf

And then for deposits, we will fill out this form too:

http://www.realtorlink.ca/content/fintrac/pdfs/receipt_of_funds_form_pt.pdf

And then for corporate clients, this form too: http://www.realtorlink.ca/content/fintrac/pdfs/corporate_identification_form_pt.pdf

What do you all think of these new requirements?

- Andrew Kyle

And you all thought I was a stats wonk...

Andrew Kyle - Calgary Condo Realtor (Royal LePage Foothills) — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 10:30:45 -0500

I love this website:
http://calgaryrealestatemarketblog.wordpress.com/

He has some really cool examinations and opinions on real estate trends in Alberta. If you have an interest in the finer points of real estate market trends then I think you will find it very interesting.

I think it is the best non-Realtor real estate website in Canada.

- Andrew Kyle