Calgary's luxury homes market narrowly missed claiming top spot nationwide in 2013, with year-overyear sales growth in the sector outpacing nearly all other Canadian centres.

According to Re/Max's Upper-End Report, sales of homes priced at $1 million or more in Calgary increased by 34 per cent in 2013. In Vancouver, where the luxury market is defined by Re/Max as homes priced at $2 million or more, luxury sales increased by 36 per cent.

Having become synonymous with home renovations in Canada, Bryan Baeumler doesn't believe he's put in a hard day's work unless he gets his hands dirty. The award winning host of HGTV's Leave It To Bryan recently finished a cottage for his family as part of House of Bryan 2: On The Rocks, Baeumler's busy schedule will bring him to town as part of the Calgary Home + Garden Show, which takes place Feb. 27 through March 2 at the BMO Centre. CREB®Now spoke with Baeumler about being one of Canada's top renovation experts.

While plenty of household items are available for free these days, the house itself isn't normally one of them. However, thanks to one Calgary couple, a free home is exactly what is up for grabs.

Opting to give away their former home prior to building a new one on the same site, Jason Hastie and his wife Gina placed an ad on Kijiji advertising "Donating our house! Free to a person or family in need" in mid-January.

With housing prices on the rise in most Canadian cities, nearly a quarter of Canadians plan to use their homes as their primary source of income after they leave the workforce, according to the 2014 Sun Life Canadian Unretirement Index. This survey also revealed 17 per cent do not know if their investment in their home will serve as their primary source of income during retirement.

At the same time, 28 per cent of Canadians expect to be retired at 66. Twice that many (56 per cent) are expecting to work past the traditional retirement age, with 65 per cent citing that they will need to.

Month after month the reports come in and month after month Calgary is still holding at a bleak one per cent rental vacancy.

In a report released by CIBC World Markets Inc., Calgary was shown to have the lowest rental vacancy rate out of the major city markets in Canada.

When buying a new home, warranty may not be on the fore front of decisions, but the Alberta government introduced new warranty standards for new home buyers on Feb. 1.

Builders will now have to provide mandatory home warranty coverage for all new homes built in Alberta under the New Home Buyer Protection Act.

The number of homes up for sale may have declined, however Calgary's housing market showed no sign of letting up in January.

Undeterred by a four per cent drop in new listings, MLS® sales in the city increased by 17 per cent year-over-year in January. The increase marks the tenth consecutive month of year-over-year increases in Calgary dating back to March of 2013.

Remember Eddie the Eagle? What about Elizabeth Manley or the Jamaican Bobsled Team? While memories may have faded since the 1988 Olympics, the lasting impact of the 15th Olympic Winter Games is obvious.

Thrusting Calgary into the global spotlight, the games helped the city evolve into the world class city we call home. In addition to actual Olympic venues that saw such events as "the Battle of the Brians", many areas of the city were established in the lead up to the games.

Housing starts in the Calgary Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) increased by six per cent in January. According to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), builders broke ground on 1,328 homes in January, an 84.7 per cent increase from January 2013's 719 units.

"The trend in total housing starts moved higher in January due to increased production in both the single-detached and multi-family markets. The rising trend in housing starts has been supported by heightened net migration and job growth, as well as a decline in new home inventories," said Richard Cho, CMHC's Senior Market Analyst for Calgary.