Calgarians will now be shelling out a little more to use some city services.

With the arrival of the New Year, user fees for services like public transit and recreation facilities have increased.

Along with increased recreation and transit costs, which bring the price of an adult single ticket to $3 from $2.75 and a monthly pass from $94 to $96, Calgary residents will also pay slightly more for curbside recycling and waste management.

The Great Plains camp, built in October to house about 700 people displaced by the floods, will close on Jan. 31.

Demand for the camp was lower than expected, with the peak population at just over 70 people, and December saw a decrease to 45 people.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) saw that December had an increase of housing starts over the month of November. December saw that starts were trending at 14,013 units, where November had 13,941 units.

The monthly seasonally adjusted rates (SAAR) of total housing starts show a trend of a six month moving average.

At nearly double their closest competition, new home prices in Calgary posted the highest year-overyear increase in Canada in November.

According to Statistics Canada, Calgary was the biggest contributor to a 1.4 per cent national advance in new home prices in the 12 months leading up to November, as new home prices in the city rose by 6.5 per cent.

Once spurred by the discovery of precious natural resources such as gold, silver or oil, the towns around Calgary have found another catalyst for growth.

Driven by relatively high level of affordability in comparison to their big city brethren, buyers in Calgary's surrounding communities snapped up homes at a rate not seen in several years.

Calgarians were eager to embrace a little opulence in 2013. As outlined in a report from Sotheby's International Realty Canada, Calgary lead the country in overall sales growth, with property sales over $1 million increasing by 33 per cent compared to the year prior – the biggest increase in Canada.

In total, there were 722 homes over $1 million (condominiums, attached and single family) sold in 2013 in Calgary. Sales over $1 million set records in 10 of the 12 months in 2013, with attached homes sales in the category increasing by 94 per cent year-over-year.

Resale homes sales in Calgary are expected to moderate this year, with volume increasing by 3.6per cent and prices up by 4.3 per cent.

CREB®'s forecast anticipates a rise in resale listings and less upwards pressure on prices. The forecast, presented at the BMO Centre at Stampede Park, predicts sales in the city to moderate, climbing to 24,335 units in total.

The winter months are here, and with that comes a drop in the temperature resulting in what could be a costly heating bill.

It can be quite the conflict on whether to dial down the thermostat, or keep a toasty temperature and have a hefty bill come in the mail. In order to save a few dollars here are a few ways to keep a warm home and money in the bank.

A new guidebook will set common standards for new community development and provide building blocks for community design.

The new document has been proposed to be a part of the Municipal Development Plan, which will allow the area structure plan to refer to the New Community Planning Guidebook.