Day: November 14, 2013

Calgary Real Estate News

Developers plan to build outlet mall with 80 stores next to Calaway Park

A massive outlet mall is being proposed for an area beside Calaway Park just outside of Calgary’s city limits.

The RioCan/Tanger Outlets at Calaway Park will have 80 stores in nine buildings with about 350,000 square feet of retail space.

The Master Site Development Plan said the mall “will be a destination shopping centre comprised of high quality, world class retailers that offer in-season merchandise and the latest fashion trends from top brand names and designers.”

“Tanger Outlets at Calaway Park will provide retail amenities to residents of Springbank, adjacent communities within Rocky View County and across the Calgary Region and beyond,” it said. “The retail offering will complement the existing Calaway Park recreational amusement facility and expand the facility’s destination appeal as a major regional tourism attraction.

“Tanger Outlets at Calaway Park will be a thriving retail centre where people can meet and interact in a pedestrian-friendly atmosphere. The fundamental design of the Outlets contemplates a unique retail concept wherein multiple stand-alone buildings will be purposefully arranged to accommodate an internal pedestrian ‘main-street’ atmosphere where patrons can stroll from one store to the other without automobile conflicts.”

It said wide, animated walkways will connect the retail stores, plazas and various pedestrian realm amenities with the goal of creating a high-quality shopping experience.

“Landscaping, lighting and street furniture will enhance the customer experience with some of the pedestrian areas being partially sheltered from the elements by overhangs or porticos.”

The retail buildings will be located within the site’s central portion with the parking areas situated along its periphery, it said.

“The buildings will include a variety of different sizes and shapes, some occupied by single tenants with others housing multiple tenants. Shops and boutiques will be interspersed with cafes and supportive services. Building heights and facades will vary and the internal pedestrian streetscape area will be animated with plazas, fountains, patios and outdoor activities,” said the master plan.

The Outlets are expected to provide jobs for approximately 1,000 employees.

“The Calaway Park site has been touted as a potential location for an outlet style shopping centre for almost 20 years,” said Michael Kehoe, an Alberta-based retail specialist with Fairfield Commercial Real Estate Inc. in Calgary. “Tanger Factory Outlet Centres Inc. with their strategic alliance with RioCan REIT, Canada’s largest retail real estate landlord, is the strongest of several outlet shopping centre developers currently looking to enter the Calgary market.

“The Calaway Park location is ideal for this type of development as the park is an established tourist destination and an landmark on the local scene. The outlet style shopping facility proposed by Tanger should capitalize on the year-round regional and international tourist traffic heading to and from the Banff/Lake Louise area, value conscious shoppers from around the greater Calgary regional district and from across Southern Alberta.”

Bob Williams, general manager of Calaway Park, said the facility will continue to operate as it has for the past 32 years.

The proposed mall is on land the park currently owns just south and east of the entertainment centre. The land will be sold to the mall developer if the proposal is successful in being approved.

“It’s interesting because if you look at research . . . when visitors visit locations the number one activity they do is shopping first and attractions second,” said Williams.

 

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Calgary Real Estate News

Repeat home sale price growth best in Calgary – Increase of 6.7 per cent from last year

Calgary had the best year-over-year price growth for repeat home sales in October, according to the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index.

The index, which was released Wednesday, said Calgary prices were up 6.7 per cent from a year ago while the national composite of 11 centres showed an annual increase of 3.1 per cent.

The index is estimated by tracking observed or registered home prices over time using data collected from public land registries. All dwellings that have been sold at least twice are considered in the calculation of the index.

On a monthly basis, prices rose by 0.9 per cent in Calgary and by 0.1 per cent nationally.

Four markets exceeded the national average for year-over-year price growth – Calgary, Hamilton (4.6 per cent), Toronto (4.1 per cent) and Quebec City (3.8 per cent). The annual increase lagged in Vancouver (2.7 per cent), Edmonton (2.2 per cent), Winnipeg (2.0 per cent), Montreal and Ottawa-Gatineau (0.9 per cent). Prices were down for an eighth straight month in Victoria (0.5 per cent) and for a third month in a row in Halifax (0.7 per cent).

On a monthly basis, the index increased in three of the regions covered – Vancouver (1.1 per cent), Halifax (1.0 per cent) and Calgary. Prices declined in Montreal and Winnipeg (0.1 per cent), Toronto (0.2 per cent), Edmonton (0.3 per cent), Quebec City (0.4 per cent), Ottawa-Gatineau (0.5 per cent), Victoria (0.6 per cent) and Hamilton (0.8 per cent).

Calgary’s residential real estate market is showing no signs of slowing down in November. According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, month-to-date until Tuesday, total MLS sales of 692 in the city are up 31.56 per cent compared with the same period last year and the average sale price has jumped by 8.62 per cent to $464,596.

“Annual home price inflation (in Canada) may have accelerated to 3.1 per cent in October but we doubt that there is significant upside going forward. Even if 12-month inflation will continue to benefit from a favourable base effect through February 2014 – recall that home prices declined in six consecutive months after the introduction of more stringent homeownership rules in July 2012 – the fact still remains that the 0.1 per cent monthly increase recorded in October was weaker than normal,” said Marc Pinsonneault, economist with the National Bank.

“What’s more, prices failed to grow on a monthly basis in at least eight regions. This is a development usually associated with price weakness. Resale activity has picked up in recent months, but it seems that households are bargaining harder on prices to compensate for higher mortgage rates.”

Amna Asaf, economist with Capital Economics, said the national pick-up in house price growth had a lot to do with the latest surge in existing home sales, which has been driven by fears of higher mortgage rates.

“With the five-year conventional mortgage rate essentially unchanged at 5.34 per cent since August, that kind of boost to sales cannot be expected to last too long. Apart from higher sales, lower supply of homes listed for sale has dampened the months’ supply of inventory, which suggests that house price growth is likely to accelerate in the next few months.”

 

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald
Calgary Real Estate News

Resale pace strengthens in Calgary

As average prices rose, resale condo apartment and townhome sales increased nearly 25 per cent during October compared to the same time last year, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

“Employment growth, strong net migration, lack of rental product and low mortgage rates have contributed to the rise in housing demand over the past two years,” chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie of CREB said in a news release.

“Meanwhile, supply levels have not kept pace, causing prices to push up.”

Net migration is the inflow of people to Calgary minus the outflow.

In October, 337 resale condo apartments sold, up almost 25 per cent over the 271 units that changed hands during the same month last year.

Sales of condo apartments were also up from Jan. 1 to the end of October, rising to 3,482 sales — up almost 15 per cent compared to 3,030 sales during the same time last year.

The average price for resale condo apartments was $309,415 in October, up 6.7 per cent from $289,820 a year earlier.

From Jan. 1 to the end of September, the average price grew to $299,070, up 6.3 per cent from $281,239 during the same period in 2012.

The most expensive resale townhome sold in October was between $1.75 million and $1,999,999, while the largest group of apartments — 146 units — sold for between $200,000 and $299,999.

Apartment prices slid slightly into sellers’ territory since the spring.

In October, 280 resale condo townhomes changed hands, up 27.8 per cent over 219 sales during the same month a year ago.

Sales from Jan. 1 to the end of October increased 21.6 per cent to 2,774 sales, up from 2,280 sales during the same time last year.

The average price townhomes commanded in Calgary was $365,037 in October, up 13.4 per cent from $321,644 a year ago. From

Jan. 1 to the end of September, the average sale price has risen

7.3 per cent, to $340,607 from $317,281 during the same time in 2012. In October, one townhome sold for between $2.5 million and $2.9 million, while the largest group of townhomes — 98 units — sold for between $200,000 and $299,999.

Townhome prices are in a sellers’ market now, and have been since the spring, CREB data show.

IN THE ZONE

Condo sales in Zone C of the Calgary Real Estate Board — roughly the city’s southwest — outstripped the rest of the quadrants in October.

Zone C logged 331 sales of MLS-listed resale condos at an average price of $372,709.

Zone A, roughly the city’s northwest, saw 156 properties change hands at an average price of $323,452.

Zone D, in the southeast, had 73 transactions averaging $288,915, while Zone B, in the northeast, had 57 sales averaging $202,928.

Visit creb.com for more information

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