Royal LePage Solutions is spearheading an innovative event designed to get people out and about, meeting real estate agents and checking out a broad selection of homes across the city and surrounding areas.

The federal government is hailing its First-Time Buyer Incentive program as a golden opportunity for thousands of potential homebuyers across the country who are hoping to purchase their first property.

Calgary's real estate market has been sitting in buyers' conditions for the past five years or so. As we move into 2019, these conditions will more than likely continue. However, if you're trying to sell a home in this buyers' market, here are some simple tricks that can help.

Many homeowners look after their property with great care, staying up to date on maintenance and completing any repairs needed to keep their home in tip-top shape.

However, not everyone is so thorough, so when buying a home, it pays to keep your eyes open for any maintenance red flags that could indicate potentially expensive problems.

If you're a renter in Calgary thinking of testing the waters of homeownership, it might be time to take the plunge.

Winter is more about skis and snowballs than buyers and sellers. But as the warm weather emerges, so does a renewed interest in real estate. Now that hope springs eternal, a little knowledge of the market will prevent you getting snowed under.

While navigating their spring housing prospects, consumers must consider the economy, the local market and their personal situation. Overall economic conditions have seen little change in recent years, with high unemployment and limited job growth. The effect in Calgary is that demand generally remains low, but there are some promising signs.

May sales activity continued to ease, with the largest declines occurring in the detached sector. Additional gains in new listings continued to increase inventory levels.

Citywide sales activity in May totalled 1,726 units, 19 per cent below last year's levels and 24 per cent below longer-term averages. Sales activity in the detached sector declined to levels not seen in over a decade.

"The impact of rising lending rates and stricter qualification levels is causing demand to ease across all product types," said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

Couple nearing retirement secured lifestyle close to family and amenities with new-build condo

Dragica and Ron Presiloski are nearing retirement and looking to move closer to family. The couple is still working full-time – Dragica in dentistry and Ron in commercial water treatment. They've been living in Regina for several years, where they own a condo, but their son and his wife reside in Calgary, as do most of the couple's extended family. So, it was a natural progression for the Presiloskis to begin their home search here.

CMHC report includes interesting findings on prospective homebuyers

Many companies and organizations release survey results to the public regularly. Because there are so many reports to sort through and they are often self-serving, they often get ignored by the media.

However, every so often, interesting or significant findings fly under the radar, especially in the real estate industry.
A notable example of this was the recent 2018 Prospective Home Buyers Survey by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp (CMHC).

Trends shaping the city's short- and long-term development

Absent a crystal ball, the future of housing in Calgary is very much up in the air. At the same time, there are some notable trends that offer clues to what's on the horizon for the curious, the concerned and those who just like to plan ahead.

"I think the findings from the 2016 census highlight changes in the Calgary housing market," said Rylan Graham, a sessional instructor in the Faculty of Environmental Design at the University of Calgary.

"We saw significant growth in many of the inner-city neighborhoods developed pre-World War II, and at the periphery of the city through new greenfield development. These areas are where most of the population growth occurred from 2011-2016."