Did you sell your home in 2016?  You will need to report that information on your tax return.  Seem like brand new information?  It is.  In October 2016, the Finance Minister announced changes to the tax reporting requirements for capital gains earned from the sale of your principle residence.  Here is what you need to know. What is a principle residence? A principle residence is a residen ...

Congratulations on making the decision to buy your first home.  Home ownership can be a great investment and exciting adventure.  Here are some of the important steps you can expect to take as you head down the pathway to your first home.  1.  Determine what you can afford Figuring out how much home you can comfortably afford should be #1 on every Buyer’s to-do list.  Understanding monthly ...

A 75 Percent Increase is Great for Calgary Real Estate  As we settle into 2017, we are seeing significant improvements to the pace of sales, overall market conditions, and most importantly, consumer confidence. The energy market is the biggest driver of stability as oil prices have now increased by 75% year-over-year to the mid $50 range. This price range offers job security and many ...

Homes provide shelter and refuge, but they are also most Albertan homeowners’ single largest investment. Housing represents 47% of total assets for the average Alberta family – much higher than stock market investments and pension plans combined (29%). Why is this important? Because homeownership benefits the economy as a whole, as well as individual homeowners. Let’s look at this in the cont ...

Typically when you buy a home, the last thing on your mind is selling that home.  But it should be something you are thinking about because there is no worse feeling than buying a home that is difficult to sell.  Here are a few factors to take into consideration to help you buy a house that you can sell! Location This should come as no surprise since we all know that location is so importan ...

For the fourth consecutive month, housing inventory levels have recorded year-over-year declines. At 4,112 total units, January's inventory was 18 per cent below last year's levels.  "While housing conditions continue to favour buyers, a slow transition toward more balanced conditions is helping to ease downward pressure on home prices," said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. "Condition ...

CMHC to Hike Mortgage Insurance Premiums as of March 17 The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation will charge borrowers a few dollars more every month to insure their mortgages, starting in March. By law, anyone putting down less than 20% of the purchase price of a home in Canada must pay mortgage insurance, even though the homeowners themselves don’t benefit from that coverage. Rather, it ...

Click here for the full monthly report, including additional details on the outlook for Alberta's housing market in 2017. I. Alberta MLS® Trends A total of 2,612 Alberta residential unit sales were recorded through the MLS® Systems of real estate Boards/Associations in December, rising 3.2 per cent from the same month last year. The average MLS® residential price in Alberta rose to $395,694 ...

Is buying a home on your 2017 to-do list?  If you have been thinking about it, you might want to get off the fence and into a home with your own white picket fence before March.  Canadian Mortgage Housing Corporation (CHMC) recently announced that mortgage insurance premiums will be increasing effective March 17, 2017. Home buyers who put down any amount less than 20% of the house purchase p ...

After a long period of economic downturn, Calgary's housing market is expected to see some price stability in 2017, but not across all market segments and property types. Both detached and attached prices remain unchanged over 2016 levels, while apartment is forecasted to contract by another two per cent. "The transition in the housing market will be a slow process," said CREB® chief econo ...