Somos Real Estate Group

10/07/2022

10/06/2022

County Hills Village is a family-friendly neighbourhood in the northwest of the city. It is a newer community that’s known for being quiet and calm.

The area has a mixture of condominiums, townhouses and retirement condos, which attract families across ages. The neighbourhood is bounded by: Country Hills Boulevard, Beddington Trail, Harvest Hills Boulevard, Country Hills golf course and West Nose Creek.

In addition, it also provides easy access to the state-of-the-art recreation facility Vivo Place. The Green Line LRT and airport LRT are expected to connect to Country Hills Village in the future.

09/27/2022

09/23/2022

Rising Interest Rates: What You Need to Know

Interest rates have been on steep upward trend in the past few months. The Bank of Canada has been hiking rates in an attempt to tame inflation, which is now at a 31-year high of 6.8%.

Rising interest rates affects all types of borrowing, but the biggest impact is on mortgages. In June, for example, the Bank of Canada raised rates to 1.5% from 1.0% and more increases could be coming.

So far, fixed five-year terms have been raised the most while variable-rate mortgages have remained more competitively priced, but that may change soon.

For homeowners who purchased properties during COVID-19 when rates were at historic lows, the difference in monthly payments could jump by nearly 50% in the coming years when those mortgages are up for renewal.

This is causing fear and anxiety among many homeowners. A new debt survey from Manulife Bank of Canada, for example, found that nearly one in four homeowners say they will have to sell their home if interest rates go up further.

On the flipside, rising interests rates historically tend to go hand-in-hand with a cooling housing market as purchasing budgets shrink. However, this time around there are additional factors at play including particularly low housing inventories.

Whichever side you fall on, experts are predicting that the current economic climate and rising interest rates will be a game-changer for Canada’s housing market.

09/15/2022

A Growing Real Estate Demand: Co-working Spaces

The COVID-19 pandemic impacted so much of life from the way people work to expectations about workplace flexibility due to the pivot towards work-from-home.

After more than two years of forgoing the office, many employees don’t want to return to long commutes and working away from their homes. Office occupancy rates are starting to creep back up, with some employers calling workers back. The work model, however, has fundamentally changed.

And that has created a growing demand in the real estate niche of co-working spaces. Buying or leasing office spaces is a huge trend of 2022 as remote and hybrid work models look like they are here to stay.

One of the world's largest shared office space providers, IWG, is a great example of this trend. The company has seen a 45% increase in the use of their co-working spaces at 130 locations across Canada. This is true in smaller towns and rural areas, as well as larger cities.

As another example, the co-working business Collingwood Foundry saw a 200% increase in demand at their Toronto-based location and ended up purchasing more space, expanding significantly from 4,500 square feet up to 7,000 square feet.

This spike in demand for co-working spaces certainly accelerated as a result of COVID-19, but it didn’t start there. Desire for flexible workspaces has been growing at an average annual rate of 23% since 2010.

In fact, the real estate analytics firm JLL predicts that co-working spaces could account for 30% of commercial office space by 2030. On the other hand, it wasn’t that long ago that the office-space start-up WeWork went off the tracks.

So, what does this all mean for real estate? At the very least, it shows a growing market and new opportunities that could be of interest to some investors – but, like any investment, it’s not without risk.

08/31/2022

Elbow Park is one of Calgary’s most well established and most distinguished neighbourhoods. It’s an affluent area in the southwest of the city, just a few kilometres from downtown.

Elbow Park is bordered to the south and east by Elbow River, to the east by Elbow Drive, to the north by Council Way and to the west by 14 Street W. It is one of the most sought-after communities because of the luxurious, spacious homes and picturesque streets. It also has two schools and large park featuring tennis courts.

08/24/2022

Best Lighting Solutions For Outdoor Spaces This Summer

Spending time outside and enjoying the long, lazy evenings of pleasant weather is one of the best parts of summer. The right lighting can make all the difference in an outdoor haven, whether it’s a patio or a large garden or other such space.

Lighting provides function, ambiance and security. Here are the best solutions for this summer:

String Lights
A classic because of their versatility and the cosy environment they create. String lights, which are also sometimes called fairy lights, can vary in shape, size and style. Hang them up across trees, around pillars or above furniture.

Recessed Lights
This is a great way to keep a space well lit while still looking fashionable. Recessed lighting is installed directly into beams, walls or other hardscapes. They are particularly useful in areas when you can benefit from more illumination, like outdoor cooking or eating areas.

Bollard Lights
Bollard lights are an elegant way of lighting up a path or garden. They look like posts with lights on top, without any cover, so they spread the illumination equally in all directions.

Step Lights
As the name suggests, step lights help illuminate staircases. They can shine from either the front or the side of the step. They’re helpful for both showing the pathway and reducing trip hazards.

Directional Lights
These types of lights showcase specific elements that you focus the direction of the light on. They can point upwards to illuminate trees or point downwards to show off something else in the garden.

Floodlights
Floodlights are a great security measure, especially if they are motion-sensor lights. Any movement in the garden will set the lights off, flooding the area with brightness and deterring potential burglars.

08/18/2022

Transparent Bidding: What Does It Mean For Buyers and Sellers?

In provinces across Canada right now, “blind biding” is the default practice when there are multiple offers on a home for sale. In essence, it means that potential buyers make their bids and compete to offer the most attractive offer without knowing the dollar amount of the bid they’re competing against.

However, a new pilot project and proposed regulation updates may change this.

The federal government announced plans to ban blind bidding in April of this year as part of the proposed 2022 Federal Budget, making it part of the promised Home Buyers’ Bill of Rights. The bill is not finalized and would still need to go through several approval stages before being implemented.

Other political parties, like the Green Party, also support the idea of banning blind bidding.

Just one day before the federal government’s proposed ban, the Canadian Real Estate Association announced a new pilot project to facilitate transparent bidding. Using real-time tracking, homebuyers can see all the offers on a property as they come in.

The full impact of this pilot project and possible ban on blind bidding remains to be seen if the proposal is approved. Analysts have differing predictions of what this will mean for buyers and sellers.

The argument for implement transparent bidding is that it will help cool down Canada’s hot real estate market. Bidders will have more information to make an offer and sellers will be able to give an “open offer” – they won’t be limited to selling their property through a closed or traditional system.

The counter argument, however, points to countries where a transparent system is in place – countries like Australia, Sweden and New Zealand. In these cases, evidence suggests that it may lead to higher house prices. However, there are other differences in these countries that may be causing the higher prices like home sales via live auction and bids that are not legally binding.