The last seven days have featured a monumentally destructive hailstorm, the lifting of Alberta’s COVID-19 state of emergency, and a decisive city council vote in favour of the largest infrastructure project in Calgary’s history – so, not exactly a slow news week.
Let’s get caught up!
This week in CREB®Now
CMHC tightens lending requirements for insured mortgages
Planning to purchase a home with a down payment of less than 20 per cent anytime soon? You’ll want to check out Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s new underwriting practices.
Alykhan Velji’s hot design trends for summer focus on forgotten spaces
If you’re sick of staring at the same spaces around your house over and over after a few months of working from home, it might be time for a design refresh. Here are a few ideas you can incorporate into your home this summer from Alykhan Velji of Alykhan Velji Designs.
How to navigate home insurance claims and repairs for hail damage
Last weekend’s severe hailstorm saw hail as large as tennis balls wreak havoc on homes, cars and roads across large swathes of the city. If your home was damaged, or you want to be prepared for the next big storm, here are some important tips for navigating the insurance and repair processes.
ICYMI
As COVID-19 restrictions have been scaled back gradually during Alberta’s relaunch, many Calgarians have likely started thinking about their summer vacation plans. While travel to any far-flung destination, or even the United States, is looking inadvisable at best and actively dangerous at worst, a holiday within the province is firmly within reach. From last year, here is a roundup of popular Alberta vacation communities:
CREB®Now Archive
Eight popular vacation communities within three hours of Calgary
Full steam ahead
On Tuesday, city council approved the revised Stage 1 alignment for the Green Line LRT project in a 14-1 vote. The future of the $5.5-billion infrastructure project, the largest in Calgary’s history, had been in doubt as recently as a couple weeks ago, when a handful of councillors started to walk back their support for the north-south LRT. However, after this week’s near-unanimous vote in council, construction could start as early as next spring and Stage 1 of the new line could be open as early as 2026.
If you’re looking for more information, here’s a Green Line reading list to get you up to speed:
- City of Calgary – Green Line LRT: Segment 1
- CBC Calgary – Alberta’s transportation minister hints province could withhold Green Line money
- CBC Calgary – Calgary council unites after weeks of Green Line acrimony
- CBC Calgary – Calgary council votes to build the $5.5B Green Line
- Global News – Majority of Calgarians support ‘alternative plan’ for transit expansion over Green Line: poll
- Global News – Green Line LRT: Calgary city councillors raise red flags over escalating costs
- Calgary Herald – Five things to know about the Green Line as city council prepares for a final debate
Forecast roulette
Over the last few months, banks, real estate companies and boards, and government agencies have been forced to confront the economic realities of the COVID-19 pandemic and adjust their housing market outlooks accordingly. One example is Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), which made waves when its updated forecast projected a decline of 9-18 per cent in average home prices across the country from pre-COVID-19 levels.
If trying to keep track of all these projections is leaving you disoriented, you aren’t alone. To make things easier, here’s a roundup of several recently released housing market outlooks for Canada, Alberta and Calgary:
- CREB® – Q1 2020 Calgary & Region Quarterly Update Report: COVID-19 Impacts and the Housing Market
- RBC Economics – Canada’s Housing Market Woke up in May
- CIBC Economics – COVID-19 and Housing: What To Expect
- Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) – 2020 Housing Market Outlook — Special Edition
- RE/MAX Canada – Promise in Areas of Europe, U.S. Gives Canadian Housing Market Hope
The funnies
WFH = working from home, just in case you were wondering.
Additional reading
- Financial Post – Green shoots are showing in real estate recovery, but hurdles remain
- Canadian Real Estate Wealth – Defying CMHC predictions, RE/MAX predicts stable prices, minimal corrections
- Financial Post – How to get around Canada’s harsh new mortgage rules
- CTV News – COVID-19 has been the push some Canadians needed to leave the city behind
- Reuters – Canada’s housing market shrugs off COVID-19 effect, for now
- Calgary Sun – New CMHC measures target most first-time home buyers
- The Star – ‘Damage is extraordinary’: Calgary mayor wants government help after hailstorm
- The Verge – Etsy’s iOS app now lets you preview art on your wall through augmented reality
Have a great weekend!
