French Chateau, Springbank-Ttyle: a $5.5 Million Dollar Sign of Calgary's Booming Luxury Home Market

French chateau, Springbank-style: a $5.5 million dollar sign of Calgary's booming luxury home market

Springbank area property listed for $5.5 million

By mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald September 23, 2013 4:00 PM

 

 

 

 

This house in Springbank, styled after a French country château, circa 1800, is being offered at $5.5 million dollars amidst what realtors says is a booming market for luxury real estate in Calgary and area.

Photograph by: Supplied , Ross Pavl/rosspavl.com

CALGARY — Imagine stepping back in time to the 1800s in your new home.
A unique residential real estate listing in the Calgary area market, for sale at $5.5 million in the Springbank area, transports people back in time to an Old World French country château experience.
Click here to see the gallery.
“The household and design is like an 1800 French château,” said realtor Ross Pavl, of RE/MAX House of Real Estate, who has the home listed for sale.
“A lot of material has been used in this house like Old World. Mainly from Europe and North America. As soon as you enter the property, when you’re on the grounds and drive up to the visitor parking area, you get this kind of feeling that you’re back in this era.”
The 7,900-square-foot home has five bedrooms, seven baths and five fireplaces on three-and-a-half levels.
Pavl said the custom-built home has antique chandeliers, statues, artifacts, artwork and centuries-old time pieces.
The kitchen has rare Labradorite countertops.
There’s a front courtyard featuring a rose garden with benches surrounding a central fountain, overlooking a private, natural duck pond. A creek leads to a three-tier waterfall with views of the snow-capped Rocky Mountains.
And one of the most unique features is a hidden chamber.
It is located at 242245 Chinook Arch Lane.
The listing comes at a time when the luxury home market is booming in Calgary.
According to Mike Fotiou, associate broker with First Place Realty, it’s looking like September will be the eighth consecutive month a luxury home sales record has been broken. As of Sunday, there were 42 MLS sales in Calgary for $1 million or more. The record for the month was 44 in 2011.
“Going back to last October, only January interrupted the string of monthly records,” wrote Fotiou in a blog.
Earlier this month, the Calgary real estate market broke the all-time annual luxury home sales of 544 set in 2012.
In June, a Crescent Heights home sold for $11.1 million — the most expensive MLS sale ever in Calgary.
In May, the all-time monthly sales record was established with 83 properties changing hands, added Fotiou.
“Going back into 2012, monthly sales records were also set in December, November and October,” he said.
Click here to see the gallery.

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Conference Board Predicts Home Prices to Grow Most in Calgary Area

Conference board predits home prices to grow most in Calgary area 

7% and higher forecast for year-over-year hike in short-term

 

By mario toneguzzi, Calgary Herald September 20, 2013 9:00 AM

 

 

 

CALGARY - Calgary and area is forecast to lead the country in short-term year-over-year price growth in the housing market, according to a report released Friday by the Conference Board of Canada.
The report said prices in the Calgary region are expected to rise by seven per cent or more.
The board’s report said Calgary is now in a sellers’ market.
The board said the seasonally-adjusted annual rate of sales in Calgary of 33,264 in August was up 6.3 per cent from the previous month and a 26.3 per cent hike from a year ago.
The seasonally-adjusted annual rate of listings at 43,704 was up 2.0 per cent from July and increased by 4.8 per cent from August 2012.
The board said the average price in Calgary of $441,806 in August increased by 0.7 per cent from the previous month and by 8.0 per cent from a year ago.
According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, year-to-date for just the city, there have been 17,933 MLS sales as of Thursday, up 9.33 per cent from the same period a year ago. The average sale price has jumped by 6.93 per cent to $456,779 but new listings are down 0.8 per cent to 25,943.
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Repeat Home Sales Prices in Calgary See Biggest Canadian Gain

Repeat home sale prices in Calgary see biggest Canadian gain 

6.5% jump from a year ago

By mario toneguzzi, Calgary Herald September 12, 2013 9:00 AM

 

 

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Prices for repeat home sales in Calgary continue to rise.

Photograph by: Ted Rhodes , Calgary Herald

CALGARY - Prices for repeat home sales in Calgary rose by the biggest percentage in Canada in August compared with a year ago, according to the Teranet-National Bank House Price Index.
The index, released Thursday, said year-over-year price growth in Calgary was 6.5 per cent while in Canada, for the 11 centres surveyed, it was 2.3 per cent.
On a monthly basis, prices in Calgary were up 1.0 per cent. In Canada, they rose by 0.6 per cent.
The index for Canada rose to an all-time high in August.
Marc Pinsonneault, senior economist with the National Bank of Canada, said the 12-month gains in the five months ending in August were the smallest since November 2009.
“By way of comparison, the Case-Shiller home price index of 20 U.S. metropolitan markets was up 12.0 per cent from a year earlier in June,” he said.
In Canada, the price rise over the 12 months ending in August exceeded the cross-country average in six of the 11 markets: Calgary, Hamilton (5.5 per cent), Toronto (3.8 per cent), Quebec City (3.5 per cent), Edmonton (2.6 per cent) and Winnipeg (2.6 per cent). It lagged the average in Montreal (0.7 per cent) and Ottawa-Gatineau (0.3 per cent). Prices were down from a year earlier for a sixth straight month in Victoria (2.5 per cent), for a 13th straight month in Vancouver (0.1 per cent) and for the first time since September 1996 in Halifax (0.6 per cent).
This year’s August prices were up from July in six of the 11 markets surveyed. The gain exceeded the national average in five markets: Toronto (1.2 per cent), Calgary, Victoria and Hamilton (0.8 per cent) and Vancouver (0.7 per cent). It lagged the average in Ottawa-Gatineau (0.2 per cent). In five markets, the most since May, prices were down from the month before: Edmonton (0.2 per cent), Winnipeg (0.2 per cent), Montreal (0.3 per cent), Quebec City (0.9 per cent) and Halifax (1.6 per cent).
The Teranet — National Bank House Price Index is estimated by tracking ob­served or registered home prices over time using data collected from public land registries. All dwellings that have been sold at least twice are considered in the calculation of the index.
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Calgary luxury home market soaring

Sales up 67 per cent from last year in first half of 2013 

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald September 10, 2013 3:00 PM

 

                                     

CALGARY — Calgary has led Canada’s upper-end real estate market in nearly every category throughout this year, according to a report released Tuesday by Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.
“Calgary ended the summer with a strong finish and experts predict sales momentum to continue into fall, as resale and rental inventory remains tight,” it said. “Strong employment and migration numbers reflecting the city’s continued economic health will drive demand — it is estimated that for every 300 square feet of new office space created, an additional person is added to downtown Calgary.
“The high number of executive level jobs created will continue to fuel demand for top-tier real estate specifically, as newcomers take advantage of the city’s relatively affordable real estate market to buy up. In spite of the floods experienced by the city this summer, there is not enough data to date to show any long-term impact on the housing market, particularly in the high-end.”
According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, year-to-date up to and including Monday, there have been 543 MLS sales in the city for $1 million or more, just one off the all-time record of 544 set for the entire year in 2012.
This year’s pace of sales is way ahead of a year ago when 375 luxury homes sold in the same year-to-date time period.
The Sotheby’s report, which analyzed Canada’s largest metropolitan markets, said the high-end real estate market will gain momentum in the fall.
In the first half of the year, sales were up 65 per cent in Vancouver, 67 per cent in Calgary, 61 per cent in Toronto and 29 per cent in Montreal in the single-family home category.
“In examining the performance of the high-end market, we feel confident that Canada’s largest urban centres remain in exceptional positions heading into fall, with healthy market fundamentals from coast to coast,” said Ross McCredie, president and chief executive of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada.
The influence of international buyers in the high end will continue to increase in Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary, said the report. The strongest foreign buying influences include China, Russia, the Middle East, India and the United States.
McCredie said there is strong confidence in Calgary and in Alberta.
“It continues to see more diversity. It’s not simply oil and gas. There’s so many other businesses emerging in that marketplace,” said McCredie. “It’s becoming a much more significant buyer base. Typically, Calgary, and in particular Alberta, has really resulted from one industry being healthy or not being healthy. I think right now people are seeing Alberta as being more diverse.
“Very wealthy individuals see real estate as a great hedge against inflation.”
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Calgary an economic growth leader in 2014

Forecast 4.1% Real GDP hike

 

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald September 4, 2013 5:00 PM

 

 

 

 

Calgary is expected to lead the country in economic growth in 2014.

Photograph by: Dean Bicknell , Calgary Herald

CALGARY - Calgary will lead all metropolitan centres in Canada with 4.1 per cent Real GDP growth in 2014, says a new report released Wednesday by TD Economics.
The report said the recent floods in Southern Alberta will contribute to a slowdown in Calgary’s GDP growth in the first half of 2013.
But losses “ought to be recouped heading into the second half of the year and 2014,” said the report.
It said Calgary should be the only census metropolitan area in Canada to record economic growth of over four per cent next year.
“While the June floods derailed things a bit, Calgary’s fundamentals are good,” said Ben Brunnen, a Calgary economic consultant and former chief economist at the Calgary Chamber of Commerce. “Low unemployment, tight commercial vacancy rates, and strong population growth will keep the economy humming into 2014.
“The biggest challenges we experience in 2014 will likely be growth-related. Rising mortgage rates and low vacancy rates will reduce housing affordability, while strong inter-provincial migration could strain our municipal infrastructure and services. Labour shortages in the construction trades is another area to watch, as flood rebuilding efforts and strong commercial construction activity could lead to higher costs and potentially reduce the quality of the work.”
The TD report is forecasting economic growth of 2.5 per cent for the country in 2014.
For this year, TD Economics said St. John’s will lead the country with 4.0 per cent growth followed by Calgary at 3.2 per cent. Nationwide, economic growth is expected to be 1.8 per cent.
“After a bit of a mild pull-back in growth this year, Calgary and the rest of Alberta should see momentum picking up again in 2014,” said Todd Hirsch, chief economist at ATB Financial. “Stronger energy prices and a continued steady inflow of job-seekers into the province will lift construction spending and retail sales. The only danger remains the job market overheating somewhat, driving wage costs for employers higher.”
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Calgary housing market booming in August

 Records set for luxury home sales, median and average sale prices

 

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald September 3, 2013

 

 

 

CALGARY — Calgary’s red-hot housing market was sizzling in August as records were set for the most luxury home sales ever for the month, the highest median and average sale prices for the month and the second highest ever total MLS sales during the month.
The booming market was punctuated by another first near the end of the month. Last Friday, 12 luxury homes ($1 million plus) sold in Calgary — the most ever for a single day, according to Mike Fotiou, associate broker with First Place Realty in Calgary.
According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, total MLS sales for August of 2,196 in the city were up 27.53 per cent from last year; the average price rose by 8.80 per cent to $453,752; the median price increased by 6.40 per cent to $399,000; new listings were up by 7.39 per cent to 2,774; active listings were down by 24.81 per cent to 3,898; and days on market to sell fell by 17.78 per cent to 37.
CREB said the benchmark price, which is a look at typical properties that have sold, was $417,300, up 7.63 per cent from last year.
Fotiou said the median and average sale prices were the highest ever for the month.
The record for most sales in the month was set in 2005 at 2,326, he said.
Fotiou said August had 64 sales in the $1-million plus price point, doubling last year’s total and a 68 per cent increase from the previous August record set in 2007.
At the end of August, year-to-date, there have been 524 luxury home sales compared with 370 for the same period last year, said Fotiou. In 2012, the annual record for luxury home sales was set at 544 transactions.
Grace Yan, a realtor with RE/MAX Real Estate (Central) in Calgary, said the real estate market rapidly changes from week to week.
“It is currently quite a strong sellers’ market. We are seeing properties go on the market then within a day will be sold with competing offers and at times I have seen properties that have gone competing offers and sold for $100,000 over list price,” she said, adding good properties that are listed at market value are sold quickly.
“We are finding that the market is currently buoyant due to the small ratio of listings. We still have quite a few people relocating to Calgary due to a strong job market and strong economy. Prices continue to rise as there is currently high demand and low supply of housing inventory. So when those good properties come on the market they are being snapped up fast.”
Richard Cho, senior market analyst in Calgary with Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said many existing homeowners have taken advantage of the rise in home values by selling their house and using the equity gains towards a luxury home.
“In addition, rising incomes and relatively low mortgage rates have also helped buyers purchase higher-priced homes,” he said.
Becky Walters, CREB’s president, said sales have been limited by the need for more resale listings.
“However, August did see more new listings than last year, giving buyers more choice,” she said.
Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB’s chief economist, said housing demand has been supported by another year of strong migration levels, improving employment and wage growth.

“Last year’s mortgage rule changes did not reverse the sales growth in our city, but did redirect demand to more affordable product,” she said. “While recent increases in lending rates may require purchasers to adjust their expectations, Calgary remains a relatively affordable Canadian city. Our affordability, combined with a positive economic outlook is expected to support demand growth for the remainder of the year.”
mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com
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