Posts Tagged ‘Facebook’

As I mentioned in my mid-month post about the Canmore real estate market, it was nothing short of March Madness and the second half of the month didn’t disappoint.  In fact, my prediction of March being the busiest month of real estate since the peak market fell short by only 4 sales, so March, was officially the second busiest month just behind November 2009.

The sales in the Canmore real estate market broke down in the following way this month:

Apartments: 9 properties sold

Town homes: 11 properties sold

Four plexes: 2 properties sold

Half Duplexes: 5 properties sold

Single Family Homes: 15 properties sold

Manufactured Homes: 1 property sold

The average selling price for all real estate in Canmore for the month of March was $560,866 with an average square foot selling price of $404.  The average days on the market for the real estate that sold in Canmore in the month of March was 69 days.

March really was the first month we saw all properties, in all market segments, in all price ranges, sell fairly evenly. Buyer’s are still price conscious but are seeing value in the properties that are priced correctly and have shown this month that they are willing again to follow through and purchase the home they want when they believe the price to right.

Real estate in Canmore may have sold well this month, but the other side to the story is always the inventory levels.  Are we getting closer to a balanced market or moving further away from it.  March is typically a month where we see more than usual property enter the  market for sale, and this month was no different.  Our inventory levels at the beginning of the month were sitting around the 330 properties on the market in Canmore.  As of today, April 2nd, our inventory levels have risen to 365 active listings on the market.  this increase in inventory is the primary reason why I believe our prices will stay flat for the foreseeable future, playing in to the hand of Buyer’s until at least the end of the year.

I saw this video clip doing the rounds on twitter yesterday.  It’s a clip showing how the magazine WIRED is changing their business model to appeal to the new consumer and stay ahead of their competition in the publishing World.

The iPad from Apple is due to be released at the end of this month.  We as an industry need to start thinking like WIRED, embracing new technologies and changing our business models to stay competitive.The iPad can change the way we do business if we let it, and why wouldn’t we? If it can do this for a magazine just imagine how it can benefit you and what it can do to help push the boundaries of your business.  Most REALTORS® are still trying to come to terms with Social Media and understand how it can change their business, they are not ready to take on another potential game changing device.  I am and so are all the other tech savvy REALTORS® I know through twitter and other social media sites. We are excited and ready to include the iPad in our arsenal of tools.  I  urge software developers to develop real estate specific software for the iPad so we can use this device to it’s full potential.  I want the ability to have a more dynamic listing presentation in my pocket / briefcase and to promote my listings with interactive software to buyers using the iPad.

Are you ready for the iPad, how do you think it will change the way you do business?

Winter seems to have finally hit Canmore this weekend.  On Friday we received roughly 10cms of snow in town, no doubt bucket loads more at the ma0r ski hills in the Mountains (I haven’t had the opportunity to snowboard yet this season as I was preparing for and am now recovering from recent shoulder surgery).  Rarely do we see it snow all day without a break but Friday was one of those days where the weather was completely socked in and the ski hills were more than likely the large benefactors of such traffic stopping conditions.

The rivers, lakes and ponds are now freezing over nicely and should be ready for some awesome skating conditions just in time for our Christmas season.  Overall the ski hills have had phenomenal conditions since the very start of the season which will hopefully translate in to a stream of Europeans jumping on planes in the new year to come and enjoy all the great snow conditions in our winter wonderland. The snow certainly makes for some great pictures which in turn adds to the allure of the Mountains.  The local winter festivities have started, we’ve seen the Winterstart festival and the two World

East End of Rundle Mountain

Cup Downhill Ski Races at Lake Louise and the Santa Claus parade in Banff.  Skate with Santa, the long standing event hosted by RE/MAX in both Canmore and Banff is being held December 17th in Canmore and December 19th in Banff in support of the local food bank.  I took some pictures of the Bluebird day we had in Canmore today that I wanted to share with you.  If you have more photo’s of Canmore that you’d like to share please post a comment with the link to the photo’s at the bottom of this post.  I look forward to seeing you at Skate with Santa in a couple of weeks.

WOW, that’s all I can say about the Canmore real estate market for the month of November.  I don’t think any Realtor in town saw that month coming.  The Canmore real estate market for the month of November was the busiest sales month of the year….who’d have thought it?

The Canmore market, in a typical year, is quieter in November and December as we are ‘between seasons’ so to speak – summer has given up the ghost and the skiing, again typically, hasn’t had the greatest of conditions for the start of the season.  2009 however continues it’s trend of bucking the trend as the housing market sets a new sales record for the year and the ski hills have near record amounts of snow for the start of the season.

So, how did the Canmore real estate market fair.  Well, in the month of November we saw 47 properties go to to firm sales – double the amount of sales we saw in October.

Of those 47 properties sold they broke down into the following categories:

353 Eagle Heights (Click here for more information)

Apartments:  8 :: Average Sale Price: $352,218

Fourplex:  2 :: Average Sale Price: $593,125

Half Duplex:  5 :: Average Sale Price: $713,860

Lots:  1 :: Average Sale Price: $866,500

Recreational:  1 :: Average Sale Price: $165,000

Single Family:  14 :: Average Sale Price: $763,635

Townhomes:  16 :: Average Sale Price: $468,275

The Average square foot price for real estate in Canmore for the month of November was $398  and the average sale price for all Canmore real estate in November was $614,600.  Canmore real estate continues it path to recovery with a strong month, heading in to December I expect to see it taper off as we move closer to Christmas (But I thought that for November too!).  Currently we have 10 conditionally sold properties moving in to the final month of the year and our inventory of properties on the market is holding steady at 320 re-sale properties.  As always, if you have any questions about the Canmore real estate market you can leave comments at the bottom of this post, or connect with me via e-mail, phone of social media channels.  I’d like to take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and All the best for 2010.

November in Canmore is typically a quieter month in town, the weather turns colder but the snow has yet to fly so the town looks grey and almost dull.  This year however, we seem to have been blessed, we’ve had an incredible amount of snow in the Mountains yet the town and the trails in and around the Valley are still in pristine biking and hiking condition, with little to no snow coverage.

Moraine Lake road, close to Lake Louise, is in mid-winter condition and has had rave reviews from locals and tourists alike when asked about the Cross-Country Skiing so far this year.  Mount Shark in Kananaskis, which received a whopping 40cms of snow two weeks ago is also in mid-winter conditions. The Canmore Nordic Centre has their trail system up and running for the season and the top racers in Alberta will be racing there on December 5-7th.

Sunshine Village and Lake Louise Ski Hill are both open for the season now if you are ready to snowboard and downhill ski and from the pictures I’ve seen on Facebook and twitter it sure looks as though there is plenty of powder for everyone.

For those, like me, that are not quite ready to give up the summer just yet, the trail systems at the Alpine Club of Canada, the Montane trail to Harvey Heights and the Highline trail are all in great condition for hiking and biking.

So, if you’re wondering if November is a great month to visit Canmore, it absolutely is, the trails are groomed, the weather is great and there are fewer people around leaving more of the trails and ski hills just for you.