After a turbulent few years, it's nice to see headlines suggesting Calgary's market is "in a Goldilocks zone."

It's something I've seen myself. Properties are moving fast. 

Full story at the link below: 

https://calgaryherald.com/life/homes/calgarys-residential-real-estate-hits-sweet-spot-compared-to-rest-of-canada

When you start looking for your dream home, you need to know how much mortgage you will qualify for. Your real estate agent might ask you to get a pre-qualification letter. However, just because you are pre-qualified doesn’t mean that you will get the loan. You need a pre-approval for that, and even then, the mortgage company might not approve your application.

Pre-Qualification

A pre-qualification letter just tells you how much loan you can afford. The lender does not check your credit, your debt-to-income ratio or other factors before issuing a pre-qualification letter. Additionally, a pre-qualification letter is dependent on the information you provide to the lender. The pre-qualification essentially gives you an estimate of how much home you are able to afford so that you do not look at homes that are not within your range.

To get a pre-qualification, you supply the lender with your assets, debt and income. Because the lender bases its decision on the information you provide, rather than information from outside sources, a pre-qualification is not a guarantee that you will get the loan.

Pre-Approval

Getting pre-approved for a loan usually takes longer than getting pre-qualified. The lender pulls your credit report and might ask for additional documents, including tax records and bank statements. To get pre-approved, you must complete a loan application and provide your social security number. The lender might charge an application fee for a pre-approval.

With a pre-approval, you will have a closer interest rate assessment, that is usually not finalized until the loan goes through underwriting. Once the lender pre-approves you, it will send you a conditional commitment for the loan amount. You can look for homes at or below that price.

In a market when buyers bid against each other – a seller’s market – having a pre-approval letter might give you a step up with the seller, who will more likely choose an offer by someone more likely to get the loan. Thus, if you and someone else submit a bid on your dream home, but the other person only has a pre-qualification letter, the seller might accept your offer, even if it is not as good as the other buyer’s offer, simply because you are more likely to get the mortgage.

For a pre-approval, you will need to:

• Complete the lender’s mortgage application;

• Possibly pay an application fee;

• Supply your social security number and allow the lender to pull your credit;

• Provide financial information to help the lender make a decision; and

• Tell the lender how much you plan to put up as a down payment.

After you are pre-approved and the seller accepts your offer, you will then have to provide the rest of the documentation to the lender, including the accepted offer, bank statements, retirement account statements, taxes for up to two years, proof of income and other documents that will help the lender come to a concrete decision.

(A dimmed sun shines above the high-rises in Calgary skyline on a cold day of -15 on Tuesday, Jan. 26, 2021. PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI/POSTMEDIA).

Nice to see some jobs coming to Calgary. 

https://calgaryherald.com/opinion/columnists/varcoe-500-new-jobs-for-calgary-and-a-much-needed-win-for-a-city-on-the-mend

(Calgary Real Estate Board Media Release)

City of Calgary, March 1, 2021 –

With gains in every price range, residential sales activity in February totalled 1,836.

This reflects the best February since 2014.

“Despite continued COVID-19 restrictions, housing activity continues to improve. Much of the strong sales activity is expected to be driven by exceptionally low mortgage rates,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

“Confidence is also likely improving as vaccine rollouts are underway. Additionally, some of the worst fears concerning the energy sector are easing with recent gains in energy prices.”

New listings also improved in February, but the gap between new listings and sales narrowed. This is causing the sales-to-new-listings ratio to rise to 65 per cent, keeping the months of supply well below three months.

Conditions are far tighter in the detached sector of the market, especially for product priced below $600,000, where strong sellers’ market conditions are present with less than two months of supply.

The market has faced relatively low inventory levels compared to sales for the past several months and prices continue to trend up. In February, the residential benchmark price rose over the previous month and currently sits four per cent above last years’ levels. 

Detached product has the lowest months of supply and is also exhibiting the most significant gains in prices. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the apartment condominium segment still has a relatively high level of inventory compared to sales, which is impacting price recovery for this property type.

HOUSING MARKET FACTS

Detached

Detached sales improved across every price range this month, but the lack of choice in the lower price ranges likely placed limits on the gains in sales.

New listings did rise, but it was not enough to prevent further tightening in the market, as the sales-to-new-listings ratio rose to 71 per cent and the months of supply fell to under two months. This is the lowest months of supply recorded in February since 2007.

Tighter market conditions occurred across all price ranges, but properties priced below $600,000 saw the months of supply fall to just above one month. These conditions are supporting significant price gains in the detached sector, which recorded a February benchmark price of $502,500. This is nearly two per cent higher than last month and five per cent higher than last year. It is also the first time since 2018 detached prices have risen above $500,000, and currently sits under five per cent below previous highs recorded in 2014.

Prices increased compared to last month and last year in every district of the city. However, the magnitude of those increases varied, with the largest year-over-year gains occurring in the South East district at nine per cent, and the lowest gains occurring in the City Centre at under two per cent. 

Semi-Detached

Semi-detached sales in February recorded significant gains, pushing sales activity to the highest February levels seen in nearly 13 years. However, like the detached sector, the improvements in new listings were not enough to offset sales, ensuring this sector continues to favour the seller.

With lower levels of supply relative to sales, benchmark prices improved over both last year and last month. However, this was not consistent across all districts. The West district continues to see prices that remain over two per cent lower than last year’s levels. The strongest year-over-year price gains were reported in the South East and North districts.

Row

Despite a significant increase in new listings, improving sales offset the gains and the months of supply fell to three months.

Conditions for row properties are not as tight as what we have seen in both the detached and semi-detached sectors. However, they do reflect an improvement relative to the oversupplied conditions recorded last year. However, when considering activity by price range, pockets of oversupply persist in this market.

Citywide reductions in inventory relative to sales supported some price improvements in this segment. The benchmark price trended up from last month and currently sits just over one per cent higher than last year’s levels. Year-over-year gains did not occur across all districts, as prices remain lower than last year’s levels in the North, North West, South and South East districts.

Apartment Condominium

Driven by product priced mostly under $300,000, apartment condominium sales improved to best February levels recorded over the past six years.

However, the gain in sales was not enough to cause any significant changes in inventory levels. February inventory remained elevated compared to levels we typically see at this time of year.

While the months of supply has trended down in this sector, it remains above five months. This is preventing the same type of price recovery seen in other sectors. On a year-to-date basis, the benchmark price remains similar to levels recorded last year.

Photo by Creatv Eight on Unsplash

Time spent in the kitchen is almost always well worth the results at mealtime. But why spend more time in the apron than necessary when you could be spending time with the family or just relaxing. These five culinary accessories are designed to streamline the chef’s experience and help minimize food preparation and cleanup.

1. Food Processor

Considered a staple in any kitchen, a food processor is a wonderful countertop appliance that can accomplish countless culinary tasks quickly and efficiently. Most food processors come with an assortment of blades and accessories that allows cooks to chop vegetables, blend creamy fillings, make smooth sauces, grind, puree, shred and slice many kinds of foods. There are models that allow for mincing meats, kneading dough and even making juice. A food processor makes eating fresh, homemade foods a breeze.

2. Pressure Cooker

The electric pressure cooker is a long treasured appliance in kitchens around the globe—and for good reason. Not only can it replace other space-hogging tools like crockpots and rice cookers, but a good quality pressure cooker will cook an array of healthy foods (and even treats) far more quickly than traditional methods. Pressure cookers cook rice, pastas, beans, potatoes, meats, and specialty models are often designed to tackle tasks including boiling eggs, making yogurt and sautéing food. Craving oatmeal or a dessert like bread pudding? It can be whipped up quickly in a pressure cooker.

3. Air Fryer

Get fresh-out-the fryer crispy results without dealing with the mess and risks of grease. Not only will an air fryer provide the same results of a traditional oil fryer, but the foods that result are far healthier. Air fryers uses superheated air that circulates around the food in an extra-hot cooking chamber that penetrates foods from the outside in. Whip up crispy battered meats and vegetables and even a few cleverly chosen desserts without smelling up the house or creating a big mess of grease spatters with an air fryer. Some models even come with side ovens, making them a compact countertop appliance well worth the space.

4. Salad Spinner

Salad spinners are commonly used in commercial kitchens, and you should add one to your kitchen gadget collection, too. These wonderful machines are a simple two or three piece design that consists of a bowl, colander basket and lid with a handle crank. More than just a spinning device to dry out greens, veggies, pastas and fruits, spinners can also wash these foods with ease. Fresh herbs, mushrooms and tender foods will be protected, so less bruising and waste results.

5. High-Powered Blender

Most commonly recognized as the ultimate smoothie and milkshake maker, a quality high-powered blender can do far more than blend creamy drinks. This appliance can be used to make nut butter, sauces, soups, dips and even churn out fresh cream. Need to grind oats, quinoa or transform cane sugar into powder? No problem with a high-powered blender. As a bonus, the high speed of the motor gets warm enough to heat and cook certain foods as they blend.

Go ahead and treat yourself to these kitchen essentials, and streamline your culinary experiences in your new abode.

Home sales have increased in Calgary and across Canada in January. PHOTO BY AZIN GHAFFARI /Postmedia

Albertans are a largely positive lot when it comes to the prospect of buying a home. That’s the finding of a recent national survey of Canadians regarding homeownership by Mortgage Professionals Canada.

The survey asked Canadians to rate from 1 to 10 their confidence in statements such as “Now is a good time to buy a home” with 10 being an excellent time and 1 being not at all a good time to buy.

Albertans scored an average of 6.38 versus 6.04 for the Canadian average on the aforementioned question.

Source: Calgary Herald.

Please read the full story here:

https://calgaryherald.com/life/homes/new-homes/a-good-time-to-buy-albertans-more-positive-about-housing-market-than-most-canadians