Home Staging

Like pre-listing home inspections, home staging is becoming better understood and encouraged by Realtors for properties that are somewhat "lacking".

Shows like HGTV's "The Stagers" have really helped consumers see exactly what a professional Home Stager can do for certain properties. Some of the before and after pictures are amazing.

Statistics from 2005 show hiring a Home Stager can reduce a listing's time on the market by one-third and can increase the selling price by 10-15%.

I doubt those statistics still hold in the present market. Though I suspect a professional home staging will still have a positive impact on the selling price of most properties. At minimum, the cost of staging will be recovered when the property sells. I don't see how it could hurt.

Real Estate Equity Index

As of September 25, 2009, of all Canadian Mutual Fund Indices - The Real Estate Equity Index has the highest 3 month return. An impressive 18.4% return with the Global Small/Mid Cap Equity Index coming second at 16.5%.

I realize the majority of Fund's holding are real estate equities held outside of Canada. These returns do not directly reflect the Canadian market. That said, it is nice to see the Real Estate Market coming back strong on an International level. One can have confidence that the Canadian market will tail the international market.

Real Estate Equity Index (Sept. 25, 2009)

3 month return

Source: Morningstar Canada

Canadian Mortgage Bonds

Canada Housing Trust certainly has confidence in the Canadian Real Estate market. They recently offered five year Canadian Mortgage Bonds with 2.75% coupon and a 2.793% yield. These bonds were priced at 21 basis points above Canadian Bonds. The tightest spread in 2 years.

It looks like there will be sufficient funds available to Canadian home buyers at fairly low and steady rates.

Source: National Post

Calgary Real Estate Market

You have to love this chart. Brookfield Asset Management is a Canadian based company with diversified investments, including Royal LePage and Brookfield Properties. You might not have heard of Brookfield Properties but those in Calgary, could likely find Bankers Hall or the Suncor Energy Centre.

I love watching this stock. I see it as an indicator that the turn around in the Calgary Real Estate market has some teeth. Go Brookfield.

A Good Real Estate Indicator

I just read some great news at Canada Mortgage Trends.

ResMor Trust is offering prime rate on their 4 year variable mortgages which is currently the lowest available rate in the market.

Borrowers are happy but it is more than that. ResMor has eliminated the risk premium on their home loans which indicates they believe the Canadian real estate market is stable.

Couple this with the increased volume of home sales in cities like Calgary, shows our economy is improving. Home Renovators, Builders, Realtors and Home Inspectors should have more work in the last quarter. Maybe it is time to buy Home Depot stock?

Butterfly Effect

Three months ago, few would believe the top Canadian Mutual Fund Index would be Real Estate Equities.

The 3 month performance as of Wednesday, August 26, 2009 was 17%. Most of these funds don't have significant Canadian holdings. However, trends are trends and this might be an early indicator that recent activity in the Calgary Real Estate market has some depth.

Calgary Realtors, Mortgage Brokers, Builders and Home Inspectors should finish the year with a strong quarter.

The Morningstar Fund Indices are Canada's most comprehensive and reliable mutual fund indices. Updated daily, the Morningstar Fund Indices allow you to easily track the various segments of the mutual fund industry

Home Inspection Jobs In Bangkok

One needs a license to be a Home Inspector in Bangkok but not Calgary. Interesting.

Not as interesting as the price of an average Home Inspection in Bangkok, $260 CAD. A bit cheaper than Calgary's average price of $350 dollars.

However, the recent average selling price of a home in Bangkok is about $160,000 CAD compared to Calgary's average of say, $400,000.

Based on selling price, a Home Inspection in Bangkok costs .016% of the selling price compared to Calgary's 0.008%.

Comparatively, an inspection in Bangkok is double the price of an inspection in Calgary.

Below are some more quotes from the Bangkok Post,

"Building Safety Inspectors and Officers Association (BSA) to introduce a used-home inspection service, helping buyers and sellers establish selling prices that are as fair as possible..."

"This programme will enable a buyer to estimate whether the selling price is worth it or not. It will show facts based on a report made by certified inspector and approved by our committee..."

"Service fees for home inspection are 8,000 baht for a single house with a usable area of less than 400 square metres and 5,500 baht for a townhouse or condominium smaller than 100 sq m..."

"Currently, the BSA has a total of 800 certified inspectors for nine types of buildings covered by the building inspection law. The association expects to train 200 more inspectors during this year..."

Fireplace Inspection & an Offer to Purchace

It is still a buyer market and I suspect in Calgary, a WETT inspection report may soon be a condition included in an offer to purchase a home. Bob Aaron, a Toronto Lawyer and blogger at Move Smartly writes,

"I was reviewing an offer to purchase a Toronto house last week and was surprised to see a condition that I had never seen before in an offer on a city home.


The clause made the agreement conditional on the buyer obtaining a satisfactory Wood Energy Technology Transfer (WETT) inspection report for the fireplace in the house."

Read the rest at Move Smartly.

If you need a WETT certified Inspector in Calgary, there is a data base at their website.

Bob Truman's Daily Stats

I visit Bob Truman's Daily Stats, almost every week. Mr. Truman and his team are Realtors at First Place Realty.

Of course the site has lots of Calgary homes for sale. I'm not looking for a new home but I am always curious.

I like checking out his Single Family Home, Daily Updates & Monthly Summaries Page. It gives you a good idea of what is happening in the Calgary Real Estate Market.

It really looks like things are slowly turning around in Calgary.

House Price Indices Canadian Cities

From my favorite Canadian Economics Blog, Worthwhile Canadian Initative, we get a a good picture of the comparison of the home prices across Canada.

Sorry for the small graphics (click on the graph).

Notice Calgary seems to be drifting lower while the other cities have begun trending up. The X axis seems to end in May. I suspect the next time the numbers are crunched, the Calgary Index will have reversed and also be trending upwards.

It looks like things will be getting better for Calgary Home Inspectors, Real Estate Agents, Lenders, Lawyers, and Home Depot's stock price.

Fidelity Global Real Estate Fund

I was looking at the Morningstar's Top 10 Funds Ranked by 3 Month Return % and noticed there was actually a Real Estate Fund in the 9th and 10th position. Fidelity Global Real Estate Fund posted a 3 month rate of return of 32% and a YTD of 20.7%

Looking deeper. About 60% of the fund is in International Equities. Geographically, Fidelity is betting heavy in Asia with 50% of the fund committed to this region. This compared to a 2.5% exposure in Canada. (ouch)

Looks like the better deals are across the pond.

Morningstar