How To Increase Your Home’s Value & Make It More Energy Efficient

Homeowners remodel their homes for a number of reasons, but one of the most common is to increase resale value prior to listing. Renovations will improve the style and function of your home and may make it more appealing to potential buyers if you’re thinking of listing your home. So are you ready to tackle the bigger projects to see sweat equity when it comes to list your home in the future? 

Renovation Facts and Figures 

40% of renovation projects went over budget, while 33% stayed on budget.  

40% of home improvement dollars in Canada have gone into kitchen renovations. 

Top 3 Reasons for Renovating

1. Improve the design/look and feel 

2. Increase resale value 

3. Improve storage and efficiency 

Top 3 Renovation projects

1. Bathroom renovation/addition 

2. Kitchen renovation/addition 

3. Flooring/Paint

Upgrade Your Kitchen 

The kitchen is the heart of the home. A kitchen remodel will not only improve your home’s functionality, it may also become a key selling point if you decide to sell. The average kitchen remodel costs $24,912 (CAD), with people undertaking a high-end remodel spending an average of $49,495 However, if you’re thinking of listing your home soon and your kitchen is in good shape, you may want to rethink a full remodel. A minor upgrade and a coat of paint may be all you need to freshen up the space. 

Upgrade Your Bathroom 

The bathroom is the place where you get ready to take on the world every day. Show it some love with a makeover. Upgrade your fixtures to reflect your style, or create the spa-like getaway of your dreams. Canadians spent an average of $10,127 (CAD) on their renovation, with people spending an average of $21,200 for a high-end remodel.

Improve Energy Efficiency

Is it time to upgrade your appliances, windows, or other energy-impacting parts of your home? Upgrading your home with energy-efficient features will not only save each month on your utility bill, it may also make the home more attractive to younger or more energy-conscious buyers. 

When you move into a new home, no matter how thoroughly it has been inspected, there are always a few surprises. Like when your couch can’t quite fit down the basement stairs or when that one heat vent for some reason gives of no heat. To be thoroughly prepared when you move into your new home means to be ready to tackle certain tasks that will not only make your new house more cost effective and energy efficient, they’ll also make your home more valuable in the long run! So what should you be ready to do to make your home more energy efficient? Here are a few tips...

Go low flow. Bathing and showering comprises 35% of Canadian household water use. Low flow faucets and showerheads can help you dramatically reduce your water consumption, which can help you save money.

Fix leaks. Leaky faucets and pipes increase your water bill and may require expensive repairs if they’re ignored. Every six months, inspect your faucets and pipes for wear and tear. If you notice a leak, fix it right away, and don’t forget outdoor faucets! 

Go tankless. If it’s time to upgrade your water heater, consider going tankless. A tankless water heater may help you save 20% on your water bill. An added bonus: You’ll never run out of hot water again! 

Canadians use an average of 105 gigajoules of energy per household.While you may have already switched to compact flourescent light bulbs to save money, these tips will add to the savings by regulating your home’s temperature. 

Rethink your insulation. Good insulation not only helps regulate the temperature of your home, it can also reduce your heating and cooling costs by as much as 20%

Manage the temperature automatically. Wouldn’t you love to come home to the perfect temperature? A programmable thermostat helps you save energy and money by scheduling temperature settings for when you’re likely to need heat or air conditioning the most, such as when you wake up and when you arrive home from work. 

Seal up drafts. Have you ever wondered why your home won’t stay warm in the winter or cool in the summer? Check your windows. Drafty windows are not only a nuisance, they can also cause 30-40% of heating and cooling losses. Apply weather stripping to your windows to patch up leaks and save more money.

As we head into the final month of 2019, I want to say thank you to everyone that has supported our team this year, and helped us continue to do what we love to do, and that is help people. We also want to thank everyone who has taken part in our many fundraisers for Juvenile Diabetes Research. There will be more opportunities to help in 2019. 

November Prices Continued the Long Term Trend of Sliding Down Compared to the Previous Year

For anyone that has been watching the Calgary market for the past 5 years, it's been tough to get excited about much from a sellers perspective. Prices have been steadily eroding since September of 2014, and that trend continued in November. Prices compared to last year (November 2018) have slid another 2%.

It's not all doom and gloom though. Looking at the year as a whole, we are ending it just as we started, with a benchmark price of hovering around $420,000.00 (January 2019 - $421,000.00, November 2019 - $419,000.00). In fact, you can look at this year as a whole, and say the prices were fairly steady month over month. It's just when we compare to the same month the previous year that we see declines.

As we move into 2020 and start comparing current month stats to 2019, we will more than likely see numbers that are very close to the year previous. That is actually really good news, especially if you are buying.

RELATED: DO YOU KNOW WHAT YOUR HOME IS ACTUALLY WORTH NOW? GET A FREE ONLINE REPORT!

 

Comparative Stats 2018 - 2019.

That is where the opportunity lies....buying. When prices start to flatten out like this for a full year, people trying to time the bottom of the market start to take notice. The fear of missing the best deals can kick in, and it can bring some purchasers out of the woodwork. If that happens, we can anticipate a fairly steady but flat 2020 as well. It was the same in 2010-2011. Prices were dead flat from the beginning of 2010 to the end of 2011, and a lot of people did very well investing in real estate through the peak of 2014. 

“Achieving more stable conditions will take time. Sales activity has been settling in at lower levels and is likely being influenced by the economic conditions and uncertainty weighing on our market,” said CREB^® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “While the amount of supply in the market continues to ease, the persistent oversupply continues to weigh on prices.”

People are beginning to accept the reality of where the Calgary Real Estate Market is. This is what you can consider "average conditions." It's the playing field we are on, and we have to accept the rules of the game. We can't keep comparing back to "How It Used to Be." 

RELATED: HOME SELLERS WANT ONE THING...A BUYER. WE HAVE OVER 3000 BUYERS IN OUR DATABASE LOOKING FOR HOMES RIGHT NOW! CLICK HERE TO ACCESS OUR QUALIFIED BUYER PROGRAM FOR YOUR HOME

Units Sold 5 Year Overlap

We're looking forward to 2020. A fresh decade, and a chance for this city to reinvent itself, which is probably 15-20 years overdue. We hope you have an amazing holiday with your family, and a Happy New Year! Thanks again for reading our articles, blogs and watching our videos online. We really appreciate it. 

As always, if you or anyone you know is buying a home, or wants to sell Faster, For More Money, & With WAY Less Hassle, pass along our name to them, or let us know who they are, and we'll follow up to see how we can help.

Check out the housing market quick-facts for the month below, and the full stats report here. We'll chat again in 2020!

Cheers,

HOUSING MARKET FACTS

Detached

• Detached sales improved in November over last year’s levels, mostly due to growth in the $400,000 – $500,000 range. However, sales in November and overall activity remain low by historical standards.
• Despite some recent gains in sales activity, year-to-date sales remain comparable to last year’s levels and 20 per cent below longer-term trends. However, detached sales have improved in both the North West and South districts this year.
• Improving sales, combined with further declines in new listings, helped reduce inventories in this sector compared to levels recorded last year. However, supply levels remained elevated based on seasonal comparisons.
• Like some of the other sectors, the detached market is slowly moving toward more balanced conditions. However, it is still oversupplied, and this trend continues to weigh on prices.
• The detached un-adjusted benchmark price was $481,500 in November, slightly lower than last month’s levels and two per cent below last year’s prices. 

Apartment

• Apartment sales pulled back this month, causing year-to-date sales to remain comparable to last year’s levels and 21 per cent below long-term averages. 
• The monthly decline in sales was mostly driven by pullbacks in the City Centre, North West and South East districts. However, on a year-to-date basis, sales activity improved in the North, West and South East districts.
• New listings rose across most districts, causing city-wide inventory gains this month. Much of the gains were a result of a rise in new-home listings filtering into the resale market. Despite the monthly shift, year-to-date new listings and inventories remain lower than last year’s levels.
• Weaker sales, combined with rising inventories, pushed November months of supply to over seven months. This is higher than last year’s levels of more than five months. 
• Persistent oversupply in this sector caused prices to ease. The year-to-date benchmark price declined by more than two per cent.

Attached

• Year-to-date sales remain more than six per cent higher than last year’s levels and just below long-term averages.
• New listings eased this month compared to last year and sales improved.  Inventories continue to ease from the monthly highs recorded last year. While the attached market remains oversupplied, the market continues to improve over last year’s levels.
• November semi-detached prices eased by two per cent compared to last year. The largest year-over-year declines occurred in the City Centre district. 
• Row prices eased by nearly four per cent compared to last year. Annual declines ranged from more than seven per cent in the North East district to nearly two per cent in the North West and East districts.

REGIONAL MARKET FACTS

Airdrie

• Sales activity continue to improve in November compared to last year. This caused year-to-date sales to rise to 1,146 units, an increase over last year and consistent with long-term averages. 
• The rise in sales continued to be met with a pullback in new listings, resulting in inventory declines. This helped reduce the months of supply and November levels are much closer to balanced conditions.
• Easing oversupply has helped reduce the downward pressure on prices this month. However, it was not enough to offset earlier declines. The year-to-date benchmark price in Airdrie was $332,345, three per cent below last year’s levels.

Cochrane

• November sales eased compared to the previous year, but it was not enough to offset earlier gains, as year-to-date sales remained just above last year’s levels. 
• The notable adjustment this month was in new listings, which eased enough to offset any declines in sales. This caused further inventory reductions compared to last year. While the months of supply did not shift much this month, year-to-date levels have eased from the previous year and remain just above longer-term averages.
• Despite supply reductions, the market remains oversupplied, which continues to weigh on prices. In November, prices the benchmark price was $394,200, lower than last month and more than four per cent below last year’s levels.

Okotoks

• November sales continued to improve over the low levels of activity recorded last year. The steady gains have caused year-to-date sales to rise above last year’s levels but remain below longer-term averages.
• Inventory levels have also been easing, thanks to a rise in sales and reduction in new listings. While the market remains oversupplied, these adjustments are supporting moves toward more balanced conditions.
• Prices in this market have been slower to adjust. In November, the unadjusted benchmark price was $412,100, lower than last month and over two per cent lower than last year. 

This week, a question came up from a friend as we were talking about the real estate market in Calgary, which is a little battered and bruised. They asked, "What does it actually take to get your house sold in this market?" 

Well, to be honest, this market is no different than any other market. We tell our clients and home sellers that there really are only 4 Ingredients to Sell Your Home. 

1. Prep and Presentation: This is getting your home ready for the market. It's extremely important, and the more time you spend on this phase, the more money you make. It means preparing your home for the camera lens. We live in the digital world. Your first showing is not when someone comes through the door, it's when someone clicks on your property on a website. We need to make it look so amazing that it convinces people to get off the couch and come see the house in person. Photos and video are the keys. Taking more time to declutter, decorate, repair damages, paint (remember, with HD photography bright wall colours come out twice as bright in photos, and dark colours twice as dark. As cool as your red bathroom looks in person, it's a massive turn off in photos), and deep clean your home so it looks its best will pay dividends. We guide you through this process as part of the home selling plan.

2. Marketing: This is where I come in. It's my job to get your home in front of as many people as possible. Just putting up a for sale sign and throwing the house on realtor.ca doesn't work. We write compelling advertisements for your home that feature the benefits and unique features that make your house exclusive.  We then put into place our marketing strategy that includes 18 different programs to get your home on hundreds of websites, in front of our 3000+ person qualified buyer database, sent out to thousands of realtors who have buyers, and get all the eyeballs on it we can.

3. Pricing Strategy: The crucial decision. How do you price your home? We feel that pricing is a strategy, it's never a one-time event because the market changes every day. You need to be on top of what is happening not only in your neighbourhood, but in the city as far as sales trends and results go. You can't set it and forget it. Buyers are savvy...they have all the information that you do and are looking for the best value for the money. They also are like sheep.... they follow the crowd. After about 3 weeks on the market, if your home hasn't sold, or if you haven't reacted to the current market conditions, buyers start to miss your home online. It becomes white noise. They start thinking (and we have actually heard this dozens of times) "What is wrong with that place if it hasn't sold yet? If no one else wants it, why would I?" Your pricing strategy has to be focused on how buyers buy, and their psychological reactions to your property. You can decipher a lot about your price buy monitoring your online clicks vs. your actual showings. This is something we do every week and report the results back to our sellers. We can then adjust the price based on the feedback we have gotten, and the state of the market at that moment. As a seller, you need to detach yourself from "I need to get this much money." That isn't how the market works. You are at the mercy of what a buyer is willing to pay today...if you can't do that, you shouldn't put your home on the market. The clock starts ticking on the desirability of your home the second it goes on the market. You have a short window to catch a buyer's attention. If you don't, your neighbour that is a better value will sell first, and that directly affects your market value. Time on market = less money in your pocket. We build a suggested pricing map into our home sale plans so that we are always ahead of the market. We read, react, rinse, repeat.

4. Teamwork: The realtor you choose and you the home seller need to remember you are on the same team. You are all working on a common goal, which is to get the best possible results for the home seller. A good real estate professional has sold hundreds of homes and has a lot of knowledge and experience to lean on. Most home sellers only ever sell 3 or fewer homes in their lives. That is a pretty small sample size to consider yourself an expert. Major corporations all hire consultants to help them see the big picture....and that is what real estate pros do for you...consult you through the process so you make the best decisions you can. There are thousands of nuances in every real estate deal that are different than the last and a good realtor will help you navigate those. Things may have changed in the market since you last sold a home as well, so your expectations may be incorrect for the current state of the economy. Trust your realtor. That's why you are hiring them. They have the experience and knowledge for you to lean on. If you can't trust the person you hired, and they aren't being a consultant to you, fire them, and go hire someone who will.

Just like baking, you can't leave out an ingredient or the cake doesn't turn out. Selling your home is exactly the same. Focus on these 4 items, and you will have a much better experience selling your home.

Do you or anyone you know want to buy a home, or sell their house for More Money, In Less time, With Way Less Hassle? Let us know, or pass their name and number on to us, and we'll be sure to follow up and take awesome care of them. Our number is 403 207 1748, and you can email ken@kgroup.ca with any questions.

Snow might discourage casual buyers and tire kickers, but it's not going to deter people who are on a hunt for their dream home. Because there is less volume on the market, listing and selling your home in winter can be a huge advantage! But those advantages don't come easy, as creating strong curb appeal and enticing opportunities in the winter is a little harder. If you're willing to put in the work and roll up your sleeves, you have the chance to see a great return on your home, as well as having it sold faster. 

Click here for our free resource page with tips for selling your home in the winter, and to give you an extra head start, find a list of links below on how to spruce up your home's curb appeal in the colder months!  

Greenery makes every space more appealing - it's relaxing and brings prospective buyers back to nature. Click here to see eight plants that love winter.

Knick Knacks - While knick-knacks inside the home aren't the best idea, dressing up your front porch to make it warm, friendly, and welcoming makes a great first impression. Click here to see 21 winter porch decorating ideas. 

Outdoor Lighting - Winter means longer nights, so spruce up your home's outdoor lighting. Not only will it add a little drama and romance to your home, but outdoor lighting is also an added safety and security benefit that comes right with your home. Click here to see more on outdoor lighting.

NOVEMBER IS NATIONAL DIABETES AWARENESS MONTH

And Your Referrals Help Support People Living With Type 1 Diabetes

We have a special connection to Juvenile Diabetes...Our Team Member Brandy and her husband (my brother Tom!) have a daughter with type 1 Diabetes. We have seen first hand how challenging it can be for a child faced with this disease to live a normal, healthy life. That is why we have chosen The Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation as a charity we support all year long. They've been a big help to my Brother and Brandy's family, and do amazing work for people of all ages living with Type 1. We hold several fundraisers and events throughout the year, and we just held our Night Of Comedy at Yuk Yuk's. I want to thank everyone who came and supported this great cause. We raised another $1500.00 towards our $6000.00 annual goal!  We also raise money all year long with our Referral Club! For every referral we receive, we donate $100.00 to JDRF on your behalf. So, if you know anyone who is looking to buy or sell, let us know! Not only will we be able to take great care of your friends and family, but you will be supporting a great cause. Your referrals really do help those who need it most!. To help us reach our goal, you can refer your friends and family by calling us at 403 207 1748, emailing ken@krgroup.ca, or going to www.krgroupreferrals.ca, and fill out the referral form!

Also, go to www.JDRF.ca to check out the amazing job  they do for people living with Juvenile Diabetes!

New Mortgage Lending In Canada Sees Dollar Growth Boom

And it got a lot of looks from people. We break down what it means for Calgary in our blog with our Mortgage specialist Danielle Di Marco. You can check it out at krgroupnews.ca. Here is the article (Courtesy of Better Dwelling)....

Canadian mortgage lenders are seeing business pick up – and fast. Bank of Canada (BoC) data shows funds advanced for new mortgages made a big double digit leap in August. The rise in funds is still weighed down by a weak first half of the year, but lending is improving.

New Mortgage Lending Was Up Over 23% In August - Canadian mortgage lenders lent a lot for new mortgages. Lenders advanced $42.98 billion in funds in August, up 23.52% from last year. Insured mortgages represent $11.09 billion of the total, and is up 12% compared to last year. Uninsured mortgages represent the other $31.89 billion, which is up 28% compared to last year. Both segments made big increases, but uninsured mortgages are growing twice as fast.

Canadian New Mortgage Lending - The 12-month pace of growth is down from the month before, but still made a big increase. The 23.52% growth in August is the largest increase for the month, over at least 5 years. The beginning of the year started off weak, so this year’s numbers still aren’t that impressive. This becomes much more clear, when looking at the moving average.

A Weak First Half To The Year Makes Growth Less Impressive - The simple moving average (SMA) for new mortgage lending is higher, but not by an impressive amount. The 12-month SMA is $31.30 in August, up 2.24% compared to the same period a year before. A weak first-half to the year likely contributed to a later demand squeeze. Not to discount the growth, which is still there. It just doesn’t look like a boom, like the straight year-over-year read does.

Canadian New Mortgage Lending – Canadians are back to borrowing for new mortgages, but it’s still too early to call it a new trend. The first two months printed very large, unadjusted increases year-over-year. The 12-month SMA is also now higher than the same period a year ago. However, this is only two months unadjusted, and one month as a 12-month SMA to show growth.

How To Sell A Home that didn't Sell

If your home has just come off the market and hasn’t sold, don’t be discouraged. The reason it didn’t sell may have nothing to do with your home or the market. If your listing has expired and you still want results, before you put your home back on the market, take a step back and review your situation. There are 4 Big Things that go into selling a home...

* Ask your agent if they can arrange a no-obligation inspection of your home to help you assess the above.*

4. Marketing

Marketing Your Home To Sell! Some Questions You Should Be Asking!One of the first steps in your marketing plan involves finding an agent who will best repre- sent you. When interviewing agents, test and compare their knowledge and ask each to demonstrate how they will market your home to buyers. Compare, too, how much money each spends on advertising the homes s/he lists, in what media (newspaper, magazine, etc.) and the effectiveness of one medium over the other. Remember, it’s not just how much they spend, but how they spend it. Say goodbye to any real estate agents using old, traditional methods to sell your home because they don’t work in today’s market! To be competitive in today’s marketplace, agents who use new and innovative, nontraditional marketing ap- proaches are the ones who are getting more homes sold fast and for top dollar.

HOT TIP! Get the Best Results!

To get the best results when selling your home, you need to team up with your agent to develop a powerful marketing plan that exposes your property to the widest possible pool of prospective buyers.

And Remember...

Not all agents are the same. The relationship between you and your agent can make the difference between selling your home fast, or not selling it all.

This past month, our most popular post on social media was the share of an article entitled “New Mortgage Lending In Canada Sees Dollar Growth Boom”, which was full of useful information for those looking to secure a new mortgage. But for a lot of us lamen folk, it left us with a lot of questions as well. We reached out to one of our preferred mortgage brokers, Danielle Di Marco, Senior Mortgage Planner at MortgageLine to help us demystify some of the terms and phrases in the article, as well as better articulate how this news affects our local Calgary real estate market. 

1. What does this news mean for Calgarians and our real estate market?  The article is focused on Canada’s mortgage lending, less specifically Calgary so when we read this articles in context with CREB’s Q3 results, a rise in Calgary’s mortgage lending is likely more due to the fact that housing prices have shifted downwards.  Due to this downward shift affordability has increased, as a result much of Calgary’s market growth is more due to a shift in supply adjustments. More supply in a lower price point encourages homeowners to purchase. If you compare the type of home and features of a home you could have purchased in the boom, versus the type of home you can purchase now in today’s market you’re getting a lot more “bank for your buck” so this is encouraging homebuyers to pull the trigger and buy.

2. What does this mean for people who are currently looking for a new home?  There are lots of properties out there, a large supply so this typically means that homeowners can be more picky.  Having said that, buyers are smart and more educated now, so when a great property comes on the market there is a lot of activity surrounding that property.  Homeowners need to be ready to act quickly if they find a property they love. With mortgage rates being low right now, combined with a high supply of homes at more affordable prices I believe we’re going to continue to see a trend in an increase of purchases, as the article suggests.

3. What's the difference between an insured mortgage and an uninsured mortgage?  An insured mortgage is one where the homebuyer typically puts down less than 20% for their down payment, and is purchasing a home under a 1 million dollar price and one of the 3 insurers (CMHC, Canada Guarantee, or Genworth) insures the mortgage.  The bank charges an insurance premium that gets added to the mortgage and amortized over the length of their mortgage. In the event that a homeowner defaults on their mortgage payments and a lender must go into foreclosure this Insurance Premium that was charged helps the lender recover their losses.  So it’s an insurance premium you as a homebuyer incur to protect the bank. But the benefit of this premium is that homebuyers don’t have to save up a 20% down payment while trying to combat inflation costs, so it allows homebuyers to get into the market with as little as a 5% down payment. An uninsured mortgages requires a 20% down payment or higher, and is a mortgage between the bank and the homebuyer, there is no insurer involved so there is no insurance premium added into the mortgage. 

4. What is a "simple moving average" for new mortgages?  In this article, the author I believe is trying to establish a trend pattern of increasing mortgage lending.  However, as mentioned previously are buyers really borrowing more, or are banks/insurers dropping rates to entice borrowers and is there such a supply available that sellers are lowering their prices to entice buyers?  The SMA is a backward looking analytical tool that uses the average of (in this case) 12 months of borrowing (total mortgage loans), to see if the trend is up or down. They are saying it is trending up for a couple months, but it’s still not clear if in fact this is a trend that is going to continue, or if this is simply a blip in time as a result of the lower rates and higher supply.  If you look at the year in its entirety instead of just August you’ll notice that it was still a weaker year in 2019; however again there was an increase over the month of August but to take one month of the year and try to determine if there is a trend would be impossible. So while there is an increase, and a high one at that, historically it would seem this isn’t a “trend” but rather a “moment in time”.  We’ll have to continue to watch the SMA and the market heading into the last quarter of the year to determine if this increase in August is turning into a trend.

For such a small space, remodeling a bathroom can turn into quite the chore. As with any renovation, nothing goes as quickly as you think it should (or wish it would). Plans take time; ordering materials takes time, measurements, and double-checking takes time. In a perfect world, you would have all your materials (and precise measurements) before your contractors even started demolition. Plus, you'd know exactly what was behind every wall. But we don't live in an ideal world! So we've put together some great articles with advice for renovating your bathroom and our own hot take on what we think everyone should know before they start a bathroom remodel or renovation! 

1. Salvage what you can from your existing bathroom: If your sink is in good condition, or you just installed a new shower head last year, then make a note of it for your contractor and try and hang on to it if you can. Not only will it save you a little green, it's better for the environment! 

2. Keep your plumbing in the same spot: One of the biggest changes that will throw your budget WAY off is moving your plumbing. Unless your toilet is beside your furnace, do everything you can to keep it in the same place. 

3. Don't just think about what you need today, think about what you need tomorrow: Sure, right now your kids are little, and you need a bathtub and a pedestal sink. But in five years, when your kids are almost teenagers, a roomy shower stall and a double vanity might be a lifesaver in the mornings. 

Check out these articles for more great tips and advice on planning your bathroom renovation.

https://www.realhomes.com/advice/20-tips-for-bathroom-renovation-success-2

https://www.realhomes.com/advice/20-tips-for-bathroom-renovation-success-2

https://www.hgtv.ca/bathrooms/photos/bathroom-renovation-mistakes-1919991/

https://www.remodelista.com/posts/what-to-know-bathroom-remodel-tips-cost/

https://www.readersdigest.ca/home-garden/home-improvement/6-bathroom-renovation-tips-experts/

Ok, picture this - your realtor sends you a listing. The house looks unreal; you love it. You book a showing. The floors are gleaming; the windows are spotless, it's great. You head into the kitchen and open the cabinets, and it's a total mess. You open the closets and stuff falls out. The cupboard under the bathroom vanity could be great for storage if there weren't a wall of toilet paper blocking you from seeing how big it actually is under there. Every time you open storage space, you have this look on your face. 

The truth is that storage makes a massive impact on prospective buyers, and when your storage spaces aren't cleaned up to give the appearance of maximum space, then you're doing yourself a disservice. But you know what that means - you're going to have to spend some time decluttering (booooo). Maybe it's a family activity? But it might just be you, putting on a podcast and tackling hauling it all out and only putting back what truly matters. On that note, it's a great time to take a good hard look at all your stuff and consider whether it brings you joy - or if you've even used it in the last two years? See, there's a bright side to everything! 

We're not the experts on decluttering - here are three articles to help get you going on your journey (because it will be a journey - just embrace it). 

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/how-to-create-a-joyful-clutter-free-bathroom-stsetivw-vs~79590838?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u12118&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery8_9&newsletterId=12118

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/5-questions-to-overcome-a-decluttering-roadblock-stsetivw-vs~127298386?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u12118&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery2_2&newsletterId=12118

https://www.houzz.com/magazine/how-to-organize-your-kitchen-cabinets-one-at-a-time-stsetivw-vs~108142627?utm_source=Houzz&utm_campaign=u12234&utm_medium=email&utm_content=gallery5_6&newsletterId=12234

This Market Has A Pulse....Even If It's Just Barely Alive

It's the second last month of the decade...the home stretch to 2020. Think about that!!!

It's been a long 5 years for the Calgary real estate market in this down cycle of our erratic Boom/Bust market. It looks like we are going to end 2019 with some positive news however...

OCTOBER 2019 SALES WERE ACTUALLY UP BY 10% OVER OCTOBER 2018

Now, that is not pricing, it is the total number of homes sold in the month, but that's still a really positive sign. It says that people are starting to feel comfortable pulling the trigger on home purchases, and that some of the fear around the market has dissipated. People are starting to accept that this is the new normal for our city, and that we can't wait for things to change, as that may never happen. 

RELATED: Find out what all the homes in your neighbourhood are selling for this year! Click here for a full report
 

Total Units Sold in Greater Calgary For 2018 and 2019

As we look closer at the numbers, most of the sales growth is happening in the $500,000.00 and less market, which is the affordability level of the job growth in recent months. The city is going through a major shift in which sectors the jobs are and what the pay scales now look like. 

"Employment has shifted in the city, with job growth occurring in our non-traditional sectors and often at a different pay scale. This is consistent with the shift to more affordable housing product," said CREB^® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

It's a lot different than it used to be. So, what about that $500,000.00+ market that used to be so strong? At the higher end of the market, inventory is actually rising, and sales are slow. This is causing prices to be extremely unstable, with more downward pressure to come.

RELATED: What is your Home Worth? Get a Free, No Obligation Home Assessment Report to Find Out Your Value In Today's Market

Median Price Comparisons 2018/2019

Our take on the market....

Look, it is what it is. We have to play with the cards we are dealt. There is no magic pill that is going to send us back to the glory days of 2014. The new normal is what we are experiencing right now. Without major increases in employment in Calgary, this market will be status quo. It feels an awful lot like 2010-2011 where the prices were flat for 24 months without much movement either way. If we don't get an injection of full time jobs in the city that will attract more people to move here, we're going to have to accept the fact that waiting this out may prove to be fruitless. So many people that are asking us for market evaluations are waiting until the spring because they think it's going to be better. Unless the magic pill arrives, I just can't see it happening.   

Check out the housing market quick-facts for the month below, and the full stats report here. Have a great week! We'll chat again in December

Cheers,

Ken Rigel
Team Lead - Ken Rigel Group
Office: 403 207 1748
Cell: 403 835 6338 
ken@krgroup.ca
www.krgroup.ca

HOUSING MARKET FACTS

Detached

• Sales activity this month came in just above last year's levels, thanks to growth in all districts except the North East and North. However, year-to-date citywide levels remain comparable to last year's levels and over 19 per cent lower than longer-term trends. 
• New listings continued to ease this month, but at a slower pace than levels recorded over the past eight months.
• Improvements in sales and easing new listings brought down inventory levels by 15 per cent. With 3,391 units in inventory, the months of supply is just under four months. This is a decline compared to last year, but it is still high based on longer-term trends. Months of supply eased across all districts except the North, likely due to the increased pressure coming from the new-home sector. 
• Unadjusted benchmark prices eased over the previous month due to declines in all districts except the South East and East. Overall, prices in October remained nearly two per cent lower than last year's levels and nearly eight per cent lower than previous highs.

Apartment

• Apartment sales continued to improve this month and new listings eased. This helped reduce inventory levels and brought the months of supply down just under 6 months.  Despite improvements, the market remained firmly in buyers' territory. 
• Year-to-date improvements in sales were driven by gains in the North, West and South East sectors. 
  Inventory declines have occurred in all districts except the South East.
• Overall, year-to-date prices remained over two per cent lower than last year's levels and nearly 17 per cent lower than peak pricing. However, there are some signs of stabilization in prices this year, with prices in the North East, South East and East remaining comparable to last year. 

Attached

• The attached market continues to show the largest increase in sales, with year-to-date growth of nearly seven per cent. Improvements occurred across all districts except for the North West and North East. 
• New listings have eased by eight per cent so far this year, causing inventory declines and reductions in the amount of oversupply.
• Like most sectors, this segment remains oversupplied, which is causing price adjustments. As of October, semi-detached and row prices remained two and four per cent lower than last year's levels, respectively. Prices continue to ease across nearly all districts and remain well below previous highs.

REGIONAL MARKET FACTS

Airdrie

• Apartment, row and semi-detached sales activity improved over the previous year, pushing total year-to-date sales up by three per cent, which is just below longer-term averages.
• New listings have eased to the lowest levels recorded over the past five years, helping reduce inventory and the months of supply to levels lower than the previous year. 
• The improvements are helping reduce downward pressure on prices, but it is not enough to erase previous declines. Overall, year-to-date average benchmark prices remain over three per cent lower than last year's levels.

Cochrane

• Further gains in October contributed to a three per cent year-to-date increase in sales. An 11 per cent pullback in new listings caused supply to ease and the months of supply to fall. 
• The reductions in the amount of oversupply are not influencing monthly price movements yet.  Like most other municipalities, benchmark prices remain over three per cent lower than last year's levels and well below previous highs.

Okotoks

• Following a sharp pullback in sales activity last year, sales activity continued to recover this month. This caused year-to-date sales to improve to levels just below what was recorded post recession. 
• New listings continue to ease, helping lower the inventory in the market and bringing the months of supply to just under five months. This is an improvement of nearly six months from last year's levels. 
• With less oversupply in the market, we are starting to see some easing of the downward pressure on prices. Overall, year-to-date benchmark prices were $410,090. This is four per cent lower than last year's levels.

The good news this month is the market feels like we are at the bottom of the sink...we've been sliding down the side for a while, but the drain has been plugged. For three consecutive months, we have seen sales grow over the same months last year.

RELATED: Find out what all the homes in your neighbourhood are selling for this year! Click here for a full report
 

Looking at the graph above, can you guess which month the stress test was announced in 2017?

However, we still have a long way to go to recover back to levels seen just 3 short years ago. The total number of sales have improved, but the reality is that sales are still extremely weak, even at slightly elevated levels. There are close to 7000 homes for sale in the city right now. At the current pace, it would take 5 months to sell all of those homes if nothing else came on the market. We need to see that number down below 3 before we can get excited.

My take is that the market is going to remain stunted in Alberta. People ask me all the time "are prices going to go up?" Sure they will...but it's a matter of when, and by how much. The thought that "If I wait to sell until the spring, the market will have rebounded" is unrealistic. This market will not turn that fast. This is like turning around an ocean liner as opposed to a speed boat. It takes a lot longer, and you can see it coming from farther away.  This month we saw the benchmark price drop another 2% over the same time last year to $424,000.00

The wildcard here is the upcoming federal electon. Housing policies are going to play a huge part in it. We've already seen policy changes this fall that really did nothing except get headlines. Make sure you know what is important to you, and vote accordingly. 

Check out the housing market quick-facts for the month below, and the full stats report here. Have a great weekend! We'll chat again in November.

Cheers,

HOUSING MARKET FACTS

Detached

• Improvements in sales over the past three months were not enough to offset pullbacks that occurred earlier in the year, as year-to-date sales remain nearly one per cent lower than last year’s levels. Despite citywide declines, sales improved in both the North West and South districts, thanks to significant gains in sales of homes priced below $500,000.
• The months of supply remains elevated at over four months, although this is an improvement compared to the same time last year.
• Benchmark prices in September ranged from a year-over-year decline of more than four per cent in the South district to general stability in the North East, North and West districts.

Apartment

• Sales improved by 16 per cent this month, making it the best September recorded in the past three years. Despite recent improvements in sales, year-to-date levels remain stable compared to last year, but well below longer-term trends.
• Condominium apartment sales were varied across the city. Significant growth was reported in the North and South East districts. Both districts have seen significant new-home development which could be influencing resale activity.
• Oversupply continues to weigh on prices in this segment, as unadjusted prices remain 17 per cent below 2014 highs.

Attached

• Sales increases for both semi-detached and row product have improved year-to-date attached sales by more than five per cent compared to last year. It is the only product type that has recorded significant gains year-over-year.
• New listings continue to ease, reducing inventory and the months of supply. 
• Despite some annual reductions in the months of supply, buyers’ market conditions persist and prices continue to ease. Year-to-date benchmark price declines ranged from a high of nearly six per cent in the City Centre to a low of three per cent in the North East.

REGIONAL MARKET FACTS

Airdrie

• Conditions in the resale market continue to show signs of growth. Sales activity improved in September, pushing year-to-date sales up by nearly three per cent. New listings eased, which helped reduce inventory in the market.
• The market remains slightly oversupplied, but the months of supply is edging down from last year’s high levels. This is supporting more stability in monthly price movements. As of September, the unadjusted benchmark price was nearly two per cent lower than last year’s levels.

Cochrane

• Sales in the area continue to improve and year-to-date levels remain the third-highest on record. The area faces fewer challenges with demand than the Calgary market, but elevated inventories continue to weigh on prices.
• Inventories are starting to trend down. If this continues, the market should move into more balanced conditions and, eventually, support some price stability.

Okotoks

• Sales activity continues to recover from the low levels recorded last year. Improving sales and easing new listings are causing year-over-year inventory declines and reducing oversupply in the market.
• The market has been trending into balanced conditions, but prices have been slow to react.  Year-to-date benchmark prices remain just over four per cent lower than last year’s levels.