Mount Royal estate home for sale at just under $4 million

Once the home of P. Burns and Company executive

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald April 29, 2013 5:05 PM

This Mount Royal estate home, for sale at just under $4 million, was the former home of John Burns, nephew to the legendary Patrick Burns.

Photograph by: Photos courtesy Justin Mah, of JUST RAW Studios. , Handout

CALGARY — A Mount Royal estate home, once owned by the legendary Burns family group of companies, is for sale for just under $4 million, the Herald has learned.
The three-storey, brick home built in 1912 was once the home of John Burns, nephew of Patrick Burns, a legendary figure in Calgary, who was one of a handful of people who helped start the Calgary Stampede.
John Burns took over P. Burns & Company Ltd., from Senator Pat Burns.
“This is a true mansion with character and charm,” said Dennis Plintz, a realtor with Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, who will soon be officially listing the property.
The property once encompassed all the block on Prospect Avenue S.W. in the prestigious Mount Royal neighbourhood.
It includes about 6,000 feet with the basement and a third storey guest suite which is “really rare,” added Plintz.
It also has a Japanese pagoda in the backyard.
“It’s one of Calgary’s remaining mansions. You don’t see that these days,” said Plintz.
The house, which has undergone renovations, is on sale for $3.99 million.
“Brick, sandstone. Trees that are 100, 150 feet tall on half an acre. That’s really the special part. You have a lot that’s massive relative to most. And then a house that actually fits the lot with character and charm. When you look inside, it’s been restored with all of the features in terms of security, wiring and technology. That’s really the benefit,” said Plintz.
“It’s got a really good story in terms of where it started, people who lived here. What it was used for. Who entertained here.”
Calgary’s luxury home market has been on fire in the past two years. According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, year-to-date until April 28, there have been 228 MLS sales in the city for properties over $1 million compared with 160 for the same period a year ago.
The top communities in the city for luxury home sales this year are: Elbow Park/Glencoe, 25; Altadore/River Park, 15; Springbank Hill, 15; West Hillhurst, 11; Aspen Woods, 9; Elboya, 8; Eau Claire, 8; Lakeview Village, 8; Discovery Ridge, 6; West Springs, 6; and Mount Royal, 6.
Last year set a record for the most luxury home sales ever in the city at 544, eclipsing the previous mark of 458 in 2007.
Just last week, the home of former Calgary Flames’ captain Jarome Iginla sold for full list price of $3.995 million in the southwest Elboya neighbourhood after being on the market for just one day.
A recent report by Sotheby’s said Calgary is one of Canada’s most robust markets for luxury homes and the baseline entry point for a luxury single-family home is $2 million, which is in line with that of Toronto.
The Top Tier Trends Report: A Comparative Survey of Canada’s Luxury Real Estate Market said the demand is predominantly driven by younger buyers, largely in the 35 to 40 year old range who have a skew in preference towards inner-city and Beltline living.

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Calgary home price growth best in Canada

Typical price jumps 7.72% from last year

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary HeraldApril 15, 2013

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Calgary year-over-year home price growth was the best in Canada in March.

Photograph by: Kathy McCormick , Calgary Herald

CALGARY — Home prices in Calgary grew at the fastest year-over-year pace in Canada in March, according to a report released Monday by the Canadian Real Estate Association.
The association, in its MLS Home Price Index, said Calgary’s resale market saw growth of 7.72 per cent in its benchmark price.
Nationally, of seven Canadian centres surveyed regularly in the index, price growth was only 2.20 per cent from last year.
“Housing market conditions in Calgary have supported price growth as the steady pace of sales is met with a decline in active listings,” said Richard Cho, senior market analyst in Calgary with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. “With lower supply in the market and homes selling a bit quicker compared to the previous year, home prices have risen. However, the increase is also partly due to a higher proportion of homes sold in the luxury home market.”
In March, CREA said MLS sales in Canada of 39,527 fell by 15.3 per cent compared with a year ago while in Calgary the drop was only 0.6 per cent to 2,631 transactions.
New listings in Canada were down 8.5 per cent to 81,677 and they were off by 6.7 per cent in Calgary to 4,225.
The average sale price in Calgary grew by 7.7 per cent to $441,424 while in Canada it was up 2.5 per cent to $378,532.
In Alberta, sales dropped by 2.9 per cent to 5,605, new listings were off by 9.0 per cent to 9,781 and the average sale price was up 6.5 per cent to $386,330.
Doug Porter, chief economist with BMO Capital Markets, said all major home price measures are displaying unusual uniformity at present — the average and median price are both up between two per cent to three per cent.
“The main story is that home sales have taken a big step back since last spring but prices are holding up,” he said. “The market remains relatively balanced, albeit with a distinct fade. Look for the headline figures to turn less negative later this year, although we still expect a seven per cent drop in annual sales for 2013.”
Sonya Gulati, senior economist with TD Economics, said the Canadian housing market is beginning to thaw out from its regulatory-induced freeze.
“We do not anticipate a sizeable revival in the housing performance in the months ahead: the economy is growing modestly, housing demand has waned, and Canadians are paring back their debt levels,” she said. “In turn, both price and sales levels are poised to stabilize in the coming months. The disappointing start to the year and the near-term trajectory ahead will mean a lacklustre 2013 for the record books.
“Housing is always a regional story and this month is no exception. The tug-of-war across the major markets is set to endure leaving national price gains flat for the year as a whole.”
David Madani, economist with Capital Economics, said the year-on-year drop in existing home sales supports his view that a potentially hard housing market correction is underway.
“Assuming that home sales continue to trend lower this year, then this will eventually lead to outright home price declines,” he said.

“We expect existing home sales to trend lower over the spring and summer months . . . As housing demand continues to soften this year, residential investment will remain a drag on economic growth, particularly next year as house prices begin to revert back towards household incomes and housing rents.”
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New home prices on the rise in Calgary region

Second highest rate of growth in Canada

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary HeraldApril 11, 2013

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New home prices in the Calgary region are on the rise.

CALGARY — The Calgary region had the second highest rate of year-over-year growth in new home prices in February, according to Statistics Canada.
The federal agency reported Thursday that the New Housing Price Index was up 4.3 per cent on an annual basis in the Calgary census metropolitan area.
The highest rate of annual growth was in Winnipeg at 5.5 per cent.
Nationally, the index rose by 2.1 per cent.
On a monthly basis, the NHPI in the Calgary CMA increased by 1.0 per cent while it was up 0.2 per cent across the country.
“Calgary was the top contributor to the advance in February, up 1.0 per cent from January. This was the largest month-over-month increase in that region since May 2007. Builders indicated that increases in material and labour costs were the main reasons for higher prices,” said the federal agency.
Annual prices in Calgary have been accelerating for the past five months, it said.
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Calgary luxury condo market sets record for MLS sales

9 in March is highest ever for any month

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald March 23, 2013

            

CALGARY — Calgary’s luxury condo market has set a record for MLS sales for any month.
Between March 1-21, there were nine condo sales in Calgary in the price tag of $1 million-plus, according to Mike Fotiou, associate broker with First Place Realty in Calgary. For the entire month of March 2012, there were two sales in that price range.
The previous monthly sales record for the luxury condo market was seven in both October 2007 and June 2011.
Year-to-date, there have been 16 luxury condo sales, according to Fotiou. In the same period in 2012, there were four sales.
Last year was a record year in the luxury condo market with 36 sales for the entire year.
Fotiou’s data indicates October 1, 1999 was a notable date in Calgary’s real estate history. It was when the city recorded its first luxury condo sale on MLS: a $2.1 million unit located at the Chateau LaCaille in Eau Claire. Yearly sales in the luxury condo market stayed in single-digit territory until 2006 when they ballooned to 29. The previous annual record was 30 in 2007.
Tanya Eklund, a realtor with RE/MAX Real Estate Central, who sold a $1.2 million condo property in Aspen Meadows this month, said luxury sales are doing very well year to date.
“I attribute the strong sales in the luxury condo market with a correlation of increased sales of luxury single family homes,” she said. “Some of my clients are downsizing from large homes into luxury condos. These clients enjoy entertaining, quality finishings with the ease of having no maintenance for their fast-paced lifestyles. When the above $1 million price point is strong, it seems to be strong across the spectrum of homes and condos. There is also a lack of good product in the million-plus for condos.”
The popularity in the overall condo market is evident by the year-to-date data on sales and prices.
According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, up until March 21, there have been 723 MLS sales in the condo apartment category this year in the city for an increase of 9.05 per cent compared with the same period last year. The median price has risen by 5.15 per cent to $255,000 and the average sale price is up by 6.89 per cent to $289,112.
In the condo townhouse sector, sales of 565 have increased by 15.54 per cent from last year. The median price of $298,000 has jumped by 5.67 per cent and the average sale price is up by 8.85 per cent to $338,107.
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