Thinking of putting the old homestead on the market and moving to a nicer place? Or maybe downsizing, now that the kids have moved out?
Fewer Calgarians put their houses up for sale in November, but more people bought condominiums, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board’s housing market figures.
Residential sales in November dropped 11 per cent in a seasonal slowdown from October and six per cent from November 1999. The average sale price was $175,376, down 0.2 per cent from October and up 1.7 per cent from last year. The median price was $160,060, according to board figures.
“As is typically the case with sales this time of year, new listing numbers also moderate or decline as the holiday season approaches,” board president Greg Luedtke said.
New residential listings fell almost 14 per cent from October, but for the year they’re up almost eight per cent over 1999.
Condo listings were only down 6.6 per cent, but sales were up nine per cent from October and the average price hit $144,612, a new record.
November might have been better than expected, says one real estate seller. “The market right now is correcting,” says Tim Crough, officer manager at Toole Peet. The early fall was flat, then sales picked up at his office on the high end rather than the low end, says Crough. Toole Peet had four or five sales over $700,000.
“People with confidence and money aren’t afraid to be back into the market,” he adds.
George Bamber, president of Century 21 Bamber Realty, says the last two or three months have been slow. Calgary was a bit overbuilt, he says.
“Right now we’re just in a little bit of a dip.”
Half of all Canadians are affected by the stock market, he says, citing another possible factor in the slowdown. Someone who lost money in equities recently might put buying a larger property on hold.
Bamber doesn’t think electricity and natural gas price hikes have hampered house sales yet. Low taxes offset any utility hikes, and Calgary remains an affordable place to live, he says.
Lazlo Karasz, broker at Alliance Real Estate Calgary Ltd., also says utility prices haven’t affected house sales. 1998 and 1999 were record years and the market is adjusting. Today’s prices are better than they were in 1997.
“In our office, November was better than last year,” he notes.
With all the perils of the marketplace, I’m starting to think that not moving also has its dangers. My wife went to an open house at some condo townhouses she’s admired for years.
She didn’t think I would relinquish enough of my book collection to allow a move into a smaller home. Now she is becoming very critical of the kitchen and front hall of our house, and I’m getting more worried about a impending reno.
Almost half of the company behind Three Sisters Resorts has been sold in a private share placement. TGS Properties Ltd. sold a 46.7-per-cent share of Destination Resorts Inc. to Airstate Ltd. for $25 million.
The private placement will take effect Jan. 15, subject to regulatory approval, TGS said in a news release. TGS has the right to buy back shares to reduce Airstate’s interest to 40 per cent within four years.
TGS executive vice-president Lloyd Wiggins said DRI’s common shares have been delisted from the TSE but its debentures still trade. TGS trades on the Toronto Stock Exchange as TGP, and closed Friday at $1.65.
DRI’s third-quarter results showed a return to black ink with better cash flow this year than last.
Building permits dropped six per cent in November compared to the same month last year, but residential permits were worth more, says a city report.
Permits issued in November were worth $118.4 million, compared to $125.5 million in November 1999. There were 1,007 applications for permits last month, compared to 1,083 in November 1999.
Residential permits were worth $85.7 million, up five per cent from $81.4 million in 1999.
The big drop came in non-residential permits, down 26 per cent at $32.7 million in 2000, compared to $44.1 million in November last year.
Total permit value this year is $1.97 billion, up 21 per cent.
The cold weather hit Friday just as BW Technologies broke ground for its new headquarters in Interplex Business Park.
The gas detection equipment manufacturer is outgrowing its current 22,000-sq.-ft. facility.
Research, design, production and administration will all be in a designed-to-suit, single-tenant building by Opus Building Corp. Completion is set for July. BW Technologies closed Friday at $7.10 on the TSE.
