With the unveiling of CalgaryNEXT, the storied stadium's days may be numbered, in turn creating a rare opportunity for high-density inner-city development

CalgaryNEXT, the proposed $890-million home of the Calgary Flames and Calgary Stampeders, may mark a new chapter for the city's pro and amateur sports community.

Yet it could also spell the end of McMahon Stadium, one of Calgary's most hallowed landmarks, and create a development opportunity that many experts say is rare in a city this size.

"It's an interesting situation because it doesn't happen often that you have a large piece of land in the inner city ready to be developed," said Bryan Romanesky, a former city planner and CEO of City Trend, a planning and permit firm.

Conditions shift in September, according to CREB®

Housing statistics from September confirm that unbalanced conditions in some areas of Calgary's resale residential market are starting to push the entire sector into buyers' territory, according to CREB®.

Driven by excess inventory in the apartment sector, the overall market's sales-to-new-listings ratio — a key indicator of a buyer's market — declined further in September to 47 per cent, according to the board. That means less than five out of every 10 new listings sold during the month.

In August, the ratio hovered around 60 per cent, which was firmly in balanced conditions, according to CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

Small-town experiment pays off for McKenzie Towne residents

Clifford Koss and Janice Conley have called the southeast community of McKenzie Towne home for 15 years. They moved there in 2000, after renting in McKenzie Lake across Deerfoot Trail.

"We like the area so much we named our business after it," says Koss, referring to the couple's home-based distribution company, Prestwick Resources. (Prestwick is one of four areas that make up McKenzie Towne, the other three being Inverness, Elgin and High Street, a 120,000 square-foot commercial strip.)

In fact, these days Conley and Koss say they rarely have occasion to venture outside of the community.

Calgary creates secondary suite registry program 

Calgary's secondary suites debate now has its very own sticker.

In an effort to promote legal and safe secondary suites, the City of Calgary has launched a secondary suite registry and sticker program. The online, searchable registry tool and registered sticker program will help Calgarians verify if a secondary suite has been inspected by the City and meets the requirements of Alberta's building codes at the time of its approval.

Having added a legal secondary suite to his southwest Calgary home shortly after its purchase, Bryan Backman-Beharry believes the City's move will increase demand for legal, safe and abiding suites like his own.

"I expect it will increase demand for legal suites," said Backman-Beharry, who has already received his registry sticker from the City.

Inventories rise as sales activity softens further

Following four months of relative stability, unadjusted benchmark prices eased as expected in September to $456,100, a 0.26 per cent decline compared with last year.

Most of this aggregate moderation was due to price declines in the apartment sector brought on by higher-than-average inventory levels.

"Overall sales activity relative to new listings caused a softening in absorption rates, which resulted in inventory gains and ultimately placed moderate downward pressure on pricing," said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

Buying decisions encouraged by favourable conditions

Timing, they say, is everything.

Just ask Patrick Yeung and Jenny Hoa, who are selling their individual condos and moving into a newly constructed home in the northwest community of Symons Gate later this year.

"It was a coincidence – perfect timing," said Yeung of buyer-friendly market conditions currently in Calgary's residential resale housing market.

"We'd already decided we wanted to get a home together, but the timing just fell together."

Although Yeung and Hoa work across the city from the deep-northwest community (he near Marlborough Mall, she near Chinook Centre), both of their condos are in the Panorama-Kincora area, and both wanted to stay in the region to be close to friends and family.

Housing market offering opportunities for would-be buyers

For Donna Williams, finding the right home was a relatively straight-forward and stress-free endeavour.

She had been renting a turn-of-the-century two-storey refurbished home built in the inner-city neighbourhood of Sunalta. Recently divorced, she wanted a place to land where she would be surrounded by friends and community, and where her university aged children could park themselves when they came to visit on school holidays.

"I knew that financially it didn't make sense to be paying rent when interest rates were so low," said Williams, who recently returned to school to study English at the University of Calgary.

But she was comfortable in the home and didn't feel any huge sense of urgency to buy — until, that is, her landlords, personal friends, bequeathed the home to their adult child and her partner.

August sales activity falls below long-term averages

Calgary's residential resale housing market recorded further easing in absorption rates in August due to weaker sales activity.

Sales in the city declined by 27 per cent to 1,643 units last month relative to the same time last year and 12 per cent below 10-year averages.

"Persistent weakness in the energy sector weighed on sales activity this month, which once again retracted to levels well below the norm for the city," said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

Calgary homeowners capitalizing on market by going bigger

When Stephanie and Robert Morgan decided to make a step up from their Evanston home, their biggest concern was space for them and their growing family.

After looking at several "lateral" options that would have seen them gain little in the way of square footage, the Morgans decided to make the jump to something significantly bigger

"We really wanted a place that would feel like a home for each member of our family – somewhere where we could each have our own space but also enjoy the common areas without tripping over each other," said Elizabeth, who, along with husband Robert, shares the home with their four-year old daughter.

Getting a head's up on HOA fees

When school let out this year, Suzanne Maynard and her two young daughters joined a cohort of neighbours at Lake Bonavista for a summer kick-off party.

Unlimited access to the private beach is worth every penny of the Homeowner Association (HOA) fee Maynard says she and her husband pay annually.

"We truly believe it's the best $288 we spend in a year," she says. "The money that goes towards the community is priceless – it provides endless entertainment for our kids and we have got to know our neighbours down at the lake."