As colder fall weather and winter months quickly approach, below are some fall and winter maintenance tips to share! Whether you're renting or you own property, these are good to know to make sure you and your family are safe and secure for the colder months ahead, and your investment in your home is protected. Also a great time to update your home insurance policies to ensure adequate coverage for your home and belongings.

Please reach out if you're looking for inspector / contractor to help with any of the work below! 

For those of you who are keen on keeping track of HVAC service items, I've put together a handy tracker to tape in your mechanical room as a reminder of when it was last serviced. Feel free to use and download HERE. I know we always forget to change our furnace filters, so here's a little extra step to make sure you're taking care of those items making them last longer.

The Government of Alberta has officially announced registration fee increases outlined in it's Spring budget, to take effect October 20, 2024 which will have material impact to real estate transactions. 

What are registration fees?

a. They are fees imposed by the Alberta Land Titles Office for registering documents, including transfers of land, mortgages, builders' liens and caveats. When these documents are registered, it ensures there is a public record of who owns the land and any interests of encumbrances or liens.

Key Fee Changes to Know (this impacts the buying side):

1. Transfers of Land

2. Mortgage Registrations and Land-Charging Caveats

Here is a simple comparison of the OLD FEE vs. the NEW FEE, as an example:

This is a material jump in cost for purchasing and needs to be understood when making your purchase, so it's not a surprise (part of closing costs). 

Land Transfer fees have jumped 150%, while Mortgage Registration fees have jumped 200%. 

Despite these increases, Alberta's land title and registration fees still rank the LOWEST in Canada. In comparison to BC and ON, not only are Alberta fees LOWER, we also don't have a land transfer tax that could represent a range of 1–3% of total purchase price, based on pricing tier. 

If you have any questions or concerns, best to get a consultation with a real estate lawyer, or can call me to discuss!

Wow, October already! Hoping everyone is enjoying the nice fall weather we've had – quite a few things to look forward to into the season and into the holidays to finish the year. 

CREB released it's month market update yesterday, and the underlying comment here is that the market is shifting. 

In September, we experienced total sales of 2,003 – 17% BELOW last year's record high, but remains 16% ABOVE the long term trend. 

Listings are increasing, but not in a way you'd expect. The growth in listing activity has been in higher-priced homes, with limited choices for lower-priced homes, likely preventing stronger sales in our market.

While demand remains high across all price ranges, we don't expect the lower-priced supply issues to subside anytime soon. Total new listings rose to 3,687 units, the highest September total since 2008 – which did support some inventory growth (total September inventory: 5,064 units), but remains under the 6,000 units we typically see in September. 

More details below (FULL RELEASE HERE):

Detached

• Benchmark Price: $757,100 (-0% MoM, +9% YoY)

• Total Sales: 942 (-26% MoM, -17% YoY)

• Total New Listings:  1,792 (+4% MoM, +18% YoY)

• Sales-to-New Listings: 53%

• Months of Supply: 2.5 Months (+67% YoY)

• Days On Market: 27 Days (+7% YoY)

Semi-Detached

• Benchmark Price: $678,400 (-0% MoM +10% YoY)

• Total Sales: 182 (+6% MoM, -4% YoY)

• Total New Listings: 299 (+0% MoM, +8% YoY)

• Sales-to-New Listings: 100%

• Months of Supply: 2.0 Months (+34% YoY)

• Days On Market: 25 Days (-4% YoY)

Townhomes

• Benchmark Price: $459,200 (-0% MoM, +10% YoY)

• Total Sales: 377 (-2% MoM, -5% YoY)

• Total New Listings: 603 (+57% MoM, +27% YoY)

• Sales-to-New Listings: 63%

• Months of Supply: 2.0 Months (+102% YoY)

• Days On Market: 25 Days (+19% YoY)

Apartments

• Benchmark Price: $345,000 (-0% MoM, +14% YoY)

• Total Sales: 502 (-17% MoM, -29% YoY)

• Total New Listings: 993 (-0% MoM, +7% YoY)

• Sales-to-New Listings: 51%

• Months of Supply: 3.2 Months (+121% YoY)

• Days On Market: 33 Days (+16% YoY)

If you have any questions at all, please reach out to our team to help guide you, wherever you are in the process!