CREB®Now connected with some of Calgary's housing industry experts and leaders for their opinions on 2018. Here's what they had to say. . .

Allan Klassen wears a few different hats these days. He has his husband-and-father hat, of course. Then there's one as senior vice-president of housing for Brookfield Residential and another as chair of BILD Calgary.

The fourth hat he wears is as chair of the Gordie Howe Centre for Alzheimer's Research and Education Society (GH CARES). And like everything else he's involved in, Klassen brings a strong level of passion to this undertaking.

The highlight for this non-profit that provides assistance to the 45,000 Albertans who suffer from Alzheimer's or dementia is the pro-am hockey tournament held annually in Calgary in April.

New homes in West Calgary are expected to have strong consumer appeal

Aleem Dhanani knows the land development industry, particularly on the west side of Calgary, where Bri-mor Developments has been working for the past decade.

But he also knows the value of forming strategic partnerships. As managing director of the family-owned 25-year-old Bri-mor Developments, Dhanani wasted little time in recruiting Albi Luxury by Brookfield Residential, Cedarglen Homes, and Streetside Developments as builder partners in Bri-mor's latest residential development, which is reshaping the west-side community of West Springs.

Housing officials expect new builds to post slight rebound in late 2017

"Turbulent." That's how the head of Calgary's homebuilders and developers group describes the new housing market in 2016.

And 2017?

"Recovery," said Allan Klassen, chair of the recently merged Canadian Home Builders' Association—Urban Development Institute Calgary (CHBA-UDI Calgary).

Move-up homes driving construction activity, community development, say local housing officials

The head of Calgary's new home industry believes move-up products have become the go-to sector within Calgary's residential construction industry, and will be the backbone of new communities moving forward.

Allan Klassen, who is the newly minted chair of the Canadian Home Builders' Association - Urban Development Institute Calgary Region, said buyers' focus over the last several years has been increasingly focused on detached product priced over $500,000.

"It is the prominent driver in terms of overall growth of new construction," said Klassen, who is also senior vice-president of Calgary housing for Brookfield Residential, which is behind the mixed-use Seton development in the southeast and the recently announced Livingston community in the city's north.