Family on a "mini-vacation every day" at their new Auburn Bay home

The moment Jennifer and Justin Humphries drove through the entrance gates into Auburn Bay, one of Calgary's newest lake communities, they were sold on the lake lifestyle. That was five years ago in 2012, when the couple was living in McKenzie Towne and had recently had their first child. They wanted more from their neighbourhood, and lake living was a top priority. Auburn Bay checked all of the couple's boxes.

Higher-priced home segment show some staying power

Calgary's luxury housing sector has weathered the current economic storm better than others so far, with sales of properties over $1 million up slightly during the first six months of 2016.

"Sales have increased from 347 to 371 homes and condos combined," said CREB chief economist, Ann-Marie Lurie, cautioning, "it's not a big change."

Lurie credited the slight uptick in luxury sales to a decrease in many of these properties' asking prices.

Several big time Calgary businesses throw their support behind secondary suites

City council's inability to move forward on secondary suite reforms are sending a message to potential newcomers that Calgary is closed for business, said Chamber president and CEO Adam Legge.

"We basically have a no vacancy sign sitting over Calgary," he told a crowd of supporters at a Chamber-hosted event last week.

"So how easy do you think it is for a business to attract and retain someone to the city when they can't find a place to live?" said Legge.