When it comes to buying a home, Canadians lead with their hearts. This point was driven home by a survey released this past Tuesday from Coldwell Banker Real Estate. Findings show that 28 percent of women along with 25 percent of the men decided on a home more based on feeling that the actual hard facts about that home. Price, square footage and layout often came in second. This lends credence to the age old belief that a home is not just the structure you build.

The Bank of Montreal did a survey of Canadian homeowners and discovered that roughly 20 percent would have trouble affording their homes if the mortgage rates went up by two percent. They also found that roughly half could handle the increase, and another 23 percent weren’t sure.

Realtors® in Calgary are putting aside their previous misgivings and are looking forward to a successful spring real estate season. Re/Max released its Market Trends Report this past week and the word is that prices are increasing, even if at a modest rate. Optimism is fast replacing pessimism in this energy driven Alberta city.

Calgarians might be suffering from a form of sticker shock when they get their property tax bill this year. Council will be debating the issue this coming Monday. Previously the tax hike, as part of the 2012 budget, was set at 6 percent after weeks of debate. But the federal government’s budget decision, under Premier Redford, increased that hike to 7.2 percent. The blended rate figured out at 6.5 percent.

Once again the Bank of Canada is rolling out the “bubble” word. It is warning Canadians that a house pricing correction is very much a possibility. The bank’s economists have put together a series of reports that show the risk for such a correction has shown a definite increase. The worry is that it will not only affect homeowners with mortgages, but that it will take a toll on consumer consumption and ultimately the economy.

The Calgary Mortgage & Housing Corporation is expecting that the housing market in Calgary will show a steady increase over the next couple of years. They expect MLS sales in the metro area to reach 23,000 by the end of 2012, and then increase again to 23,700 by year’s end 2013. This is compared to the 22,466 sales seen in 2011.

Real estate sales in Calgary didn’t exactly leap off the page this past January. In fact prices were three percent lower than January of 2011, and four percent lower than in December of 2011. The Calgary Real Estate Board considers this is a sign of a stable market.

Calgary is looking at a bright future as far as commercial real estate is confirmed. The city is slated to be one of Canada’s strongest centers in 2012, according to Avison Young. The firm noted that in 2011, Calgary had a better vacancy rate than most major metropolitan areas, coming down to 7.2 percent.