8 ABANDONED MANSIONS

8 Of The World’s Most Spectacular Abandoned Mansions
Heather Billington

The history of the mansion is a rich one, in both senses of the word. The word ‘mansion’ was first commonly used in the English language in the mid-fourteenth century and meant ‘chief residence of a lord’. It stems from the Latin ‘mansio’, ‘dwelling’. The idea of a mansion being a ‘large and stately house’ comes from the 1510s. Of course, the owners of such impressive homes tend to be wealthy. Perhaps this is why mansions hold such fascination for the public at large; they are sprawling, awe-inspiring, ostentatious displays of wealth that are a delight to behold.

Something about an historic mansion is mysterious and haunting. The walls contain the ghostly memories of people who lived in the spectacular, privileged environment of a hierarchical society that no longer exists. Mansions are imposing enough buildings in their heyday but their level of appeal and intrigue tends to increase with age. There are few buildings more awe-inspiring than old, crumbling or dilapidated mansions.

There are many reasons that a mansion might be left to go to ruin, such as war, repossession or simply total abandonment as a result of lack of money. The following are six of the world’s most impressive derelict mansions, and some of the fascinating histories behind each one.

8. Lake Elsinore Naval and Military Academy

The Elsinore Naval and Military Academy was built in Southern California in the late 1920s, but never opened due to the impending Depression which compounded pre-existing financial troubles. In 1933, however, the building was opened as a military school for boys, which thrived and managed to survive until 1977. Since the Academy closed there has been a fire in the main lobby, and numerous classrooms burned down altogether in the 1980s. These days, the building is frequently home to squatters and often the site of vandalism, a real shame for such a spectacular structure.

7. Haddo House, Inverkeithny, Scotland

At number seven is the ruin of Haddo House in Inverkeithny, Scotland. Not to be confused with the popular wedding venue Haddo House in the wider area of Aberdeenshire, Inverkeithny’s version is deemed to have been empty for over seventy years. It was abandoned when the owner didn’t return from war, at which time his wife simply picked up and left.

John Smith and Archibald Simpson are both frequently credited for the architecture of the mansion, which dates from the early- to mid-nineteenth century. The mansion is both spectacular and sprawling: it includes a tower, a dome, and a surprisingly decadent interior, with echoes of Grecian influence evident in the wallpaper design. The mansion is currently owned by the Durno family who have no plans to sell, so sadly the mansion looks set to deteriorate further.

6. Mansion, Taichung, Taiwan

This truly spectacular Taiwanese mansion is number six on the list. Reportedly the former home of a Chinese poet with the surname Chen, the mansion was originally built circa 1930.  The building is predominantly built in the Baroque style, which would have signified in Japanese colonial Taiwan a move towards Western culture. In opposition, however, the symmetry of the mansion’s exterior — a main building, or hall, with wings on either side of the courtyard — was traditionally designed, with a view to optimising the Feng Shui of the building. This meeting of Western and Eastern cultures serves to make the deserted mansion especially interesting.

5. Wyndclyffe Ruins, Rhinebeck, New York

At number five is the ruin of a mansion situated in Dutchess County, New York. The mansion was built in 1853 in Norman style, and was originally named ‘Rhinecliff’. The building functioned as a holiday home for original owner, Elizabeth Schermerhorn Jones, should she fancy a weekend or summer break (incidentally, the phrase ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ is said to have originated from these particular Joneses and their ownership of the Wyndclyffe estate).


The mansion underwent several name changes before being left to ruin for good around 1950. Until the 1980s the building had stayed mainly intact, but over the last thirty years has succumbed to decay, and several parts of the building have collapsed. In 2003 a new owner purchased the ruins with an apparent view to rebuilding them, but as of yet the mansion remains unaltered.

4. Tyrone House, Co. Galway, Ireland

Number four is Tyrone House, located in County Galway in Ireland. The house was built in 1779 by Christopher French St. George, a member of a well-connected family in terms of land ownership, the ties of which were mainly forged, in somewhat sinister fashion, by well-placed marriages. The architect John Roberts designed the building, which is built in the Palladian style. The mansion was, rather nicely, built in such a way as to optimise the views of the sea and sunsets offered by Co. Galway. The interior of the mansion was evidently meticulously well-decorated with no expense spared, an example of which is its life-size marble replica of the second Lord St. George. The statue takes pride of place in the front hall, sporting the attire of a Roman emperor, which makes it both an extravagant and fantastic sight in an Irish mansion.

3. The Mansion of Mr. H, Japan

The home belonging to the mysterious Mr. H is at number three. The mansion was built in 1928 by a Mr. H, a Japanese politician in the late nineteenth-/early twentieth-century.  Mr. H held a position within the Freedom and People’s Rights movement, a group which was in part credited with the establishment of Japan’s first constitution in 1889. As such, Mr. H could doubtless afford such a spectacular home; unfortunately, the mansion was constructed in 1928, a mere two years before his death. It seems likely that he did not live there much, and it is unclear as to who may have inhabited the house for any length of time. There is no indication as to how long the mansion has been derelict for, but it has remarkably retained the charm and grandeur it must have had in its heyday — of particular note aesthetically is the remains of the ballroom, a well-lit and airy space which is a far cry from the dingy and dark stereotype of a ruin.

2. Villa de Vecchi, Cortenova, Italy

At number two is the striking Villa de Vecchi, located on the shores of Lake Como, Italy. Conceived by the Count Felix de Vecchi, the Villa was built by architect Alessandro Sidoli. The mansion has a particularly creepy history; Sidoli died the year before the mansion was completed and never saw his finished project, the import of which is compounded by the far more sinister demises of the de Vecchi family. On one horrific day in 1862, the Count returned home to find his wife murdered and her face horribly disfigured, and their daughter missing. The Count searched the surrounding forests for weeks to no avail, and eventually killed himself. Upon de Vecchi’s death, the villa passed to his brother, whose family lived in the building til the 1940s. The mansion has been derelict since then, and tends to be known — fairly understandably — as the Ghost Mansion, with all sorts of supernatural goings-on reported from time to time. Whether or not the sheer spectacle of the building will cancel out the potential terror it may inspire is a matter of personal preference.

1. The Ruins, Talisay City, Philippines

At number one is the skeleton of this imposing building in Talisay City, Negros Occidental, known as The Ruins.  The mansion was originally built by Don Mariano Lacson, in memory of his first wife, Maria Braga, and is of Italianate architecture. The design includes an homage to the owner’s wife in the inclusion of their initials, which are moulded onto the mansion. The mansion fell from its former to glory to its fascinating skeletal form during World War II, when the United States Armed Forces in the Far East allegedly set the building on fire to prevent it from being used as headquarters for the Japanese. The house’s foundations miraculously endured, due to their composition of concrete and steel bars. The mansion remains a large tourist attraction to this day, and is a popular venue for wedding photos, which the guidebook Travel Philippines seems mysteriously to attribute to the pull of the mansion’s surrounding flower beds.

CONDOMINIUM ACT OVERHAUL

Province’s condo law to get an overhaul
Bill 13 includes new process to resolve disputes
BY BILL MAH AND MARIO TONEGUZZI 
CALGARY HERALD MAY 8, 2014

A proposed overhaul of Alberta’s condominium law, including a way to better resolve disputes, is being hailed as long overdue for the province’s booming condo market.

“The original condominium act was introduced in 1969, and it’s had a couple of minor amendments, but really the condominium developments that are being built and the complexity of the relationships has far exceeded the legislation written in 1969,” Service Alberta Minister Doug Griffiths said Wednesday in outlining the changes.

“It was time to update and modernize it.”

After years of consultations with industry and condo groups, the government tabled Bill 13, the Condominium Property Amendment Act, in the legislature for first reading on Tuesday. The bill, which must still undergo scrutiny from MLAs before being voted on, contains 50 amendments.

These include the creation of a new condo dispute tribunal; clearer and expanded disclosure to buyers of initial condo fees and other information by developers; improved governance for condo corporations and harsher penalties for “particularly unfair actions by developers.”

Griffiths said the current condominium law lacks enough tools to deal with challenges, such as disputes that arise between owners, condo corporations, builders and other stakeholders and is needed in Alberta, where there are more than 8,000 condo corporations, accounting for about 20 per cent of homes sold annually.

“We’re going to incorporate the dispute resolution process, a new mechanism that means that people don’t have to resolve things in court, which is a costly, lengthy, confrontational process,” Griffiths said.

Work on the regulations, which will include details about the dispute tribunal and clarification of insurance obligations for corporations and owners, will begin shortly.

June Donaldson, co-founder of the Alberta Condominium Owners Association, said the amendments are desperately needed.

“The fact that there’s going to be a tribunal where the average condo owner can go, and in a very constructive and collaborative way, hopefully remedy it in a way that addresses the issues that are causing them worry, money or stress … is so big,” Donaldson said.

“Condominium living in Alberta has changed so dramatically over the past 10, 15 years and the legislation has not kept up with the market,” said lawyer Robert Noce, a partner at Miller Thomson, who handles condo legal matters.

The amendments will help protect consumers, offer a way to deal with issues more swiftly and give owners and corporations a clearer understanding of their roles and obligations, he said.

Jim Rivait, CEO of the Alberta Chapter of the Canadian Home Builders’ Association, said most builders and developers are reputable and won’t have to change their practices. However, the new legislation will offer added protection to buyers, he said.

“It’s quite a complex piece of legislation, and only part of it really affects the building part of it,” he said. “A lot of it is the management and how they run the condo board, answering a lot of the issues.

“There’s some transparency things that they want to build in as people get into the whole condo business, so that people are aware. And we’re all for that.”

Condos, often more affordable than single-detached homes, are a growing sector, with 55 per cent of housing starts classed as multi-family in the first three months of 2014, Rivait said.

“From an industry standpoint, it’s becoming more and more important, not less important, because affordability causes people to enter into the market through condos as their first homes and that’s usually their first experience.”

Calgary Real Estate Board president Bill Kirk said realtors welcome the new condo legislation because added consumer protection will make condo ownership a more attractive option.

“If it’s good news for condo owners, it’s good news for the real estate industry because they’re our clients, and if it’s clearer for them how they’re going to operate, it’s just great news for us,” he said.

CREB data show 1,611 MLS sales of condo apartments in the city through Tuesday, a 20 per cent increase from the same period a year ago.

In the condo townhouse category, sales are up about 18 per cent to 1,245 units.

“The condominium review and act revisions will increase disclosure to the consumer and remove some of the uncertainty in the market,” said Matthew Boukall, director of residential advisory services for Altus Group.

“Condominium development is still a relatively new and growing housing option in our market and many consumers may be unfamiliar with the concept.

“Changes that improve disclosure and provide consumers with more information, and remove some of the hidden risks to condominium ownership should improve confidence in the built form, and may attract more consumers who were uncertain about buying a condo in the past.”

HOME OF THE BRAVE

More Albertans willing to brave rising prices and purchase a home
People confident in getting into the real estate market
By Mario Toneguzzi 
Calgary Herald April 10, 2014 

CALGARY - Despite high real estate prices, Albertans have a renewed interest in buying a home, according to the 21st Annual RBC Home Ownership Poll.

The poll, which was released Thursday, said the number of those intending to buy a home in the province is up from 22 per cent in 2013 to 28 per cent this year, “showing a renewed strength in the market from last year.”

“We saw a drop in purchasing intent last year in Alberta, so this renewed intent in 2014 shows that people in the province are confident in their ability to get into the market and invest in a home,” said Don Peard, regional vice president and mortgage specialist with RBC.

“There’s a couple of key factors. Number one being, certainly we were predicting a year ago and even more than that an increase in interest rates and that really hasn't transpired. Even if it does transpire, I don’t believe it will be as severe as some people were anticipating. That’s a huge factor in affordability and certainly impacts peoples’ intent to purchase.”

Peard said discussion about the levels of consumer debt has had an impact on peoples’ savings habits with better results in recent years, which means they are able to have enough money for down-payments.

“And of course in Alberta, comparatively speaking, affordability still remains very well particularly when we compare pricing and affordability with other larger centres in Canada. Alberta still remains very affordable. There’s no question the intent to purchase has increased,” said Peard.

Recently, the Canadian Real Estate Association said Alberta will lead the country with the highest annual growth rate in prices over the next two years in the resale housing market.

It said average MLS sale prices will climb in the province by 3.9 per cent this year to $396,000 and by another 2.5 per cent in 2015 to $406,000.

The association said Alberta will see annual sales activity increase by 0.8 per cent this year to 66,600 and then lead the country in 2015 with 3.9 per cent growth to 69,200 sales.

In February, MLS sales were up by 1.8 per cent year-over-year in Alberta to 4,595 and the average MLS sale price saw a yearly increase of 7.6 per cent in the province to $407,540.

“The volatility and fluctuations in some of the other larger Canadian cities we just don’t experience that in Alberta. There’s good, solid general appreciation in home values but it’s certainly not big spikes and bubbles,” said Peard.

“Lots of fear and talk of real estate bubbles in the past two or three or four years and I think the general consensus now is that’s really probably not going to happen at all and there’s lots of good empirical data to support that and we've seen good positive changes in the Vancouver and Toronto markets and of course we’re just that much more fortunate here in Alberta with having one of the best economies in the country.”

Photo By: Danielle Nanni

AYE AYE

Buoyant economy fueling Calgary condo growth
Sales and new construction expected to rise in next two years
By Mario Toneguzzi 
Calgary Herald April 2, 2014 

CALGARY - Calgary’s buoyant economy, healthy population growth and excellent affordability will keep sales of existing condominiums rising over the next few years, says a new housing report released Wednesday.

The latest Conference Board of Canada condo report, released by Genworth Canada, said good demand will also lift condo starts in the city following a pullback in 2013 that was at least partly due to flooding in the summer.

The Winter 2014 Metropolitan Condo Outlook forecast Calgary to see the best growth in prices this year, for eight cities studied, for the resale condo market with median prices rising by 3.2 per cent to $260,523.

The report said they will rise a further 3.4 per cent in 2015 to $269,508.

“A strong economy is first and foremost and everything kind of spins off that,” said Robin Wiebe, senior economist at the Centre for Municipal Studies at the conference board, of the reasons for the optimism in the Calgary market. “When the economy is strong, people come there, come out for work, and that sets in motion the whole housing chain. Starts and resales and all the rest of it.”

The report forecast resale apartment condo sales would be up 2.9 per cent this year to 4,507 units and increase by 2.1 per cent next year to 4,601 units.

Wiebe said affordability in Calgary is a factor. The city has the highest average household income among the report’s eight cities and Calgary’s apartments are not particularly expensive with a median price below Montreal, Toronto, Ottawa, Victoria and Vancouver.

“That makes housing affordability in Calgary excellent,” he said.

The report forecast new condo apartment starts of 2,601 this year, up 6.9 per cent, followed by 2,680 in 2015, up by 3.0 per cent.

It said 2013’s absorptions of 2,772 was the most since 2008 “and likely would have been even stronger were it not for the floods.”

“Accordingly, the inventory of newly completed and unoccupied apartments fell to 244 units - a marked improvement from inventories of nearly 600 units in 2010. Absorptions are forecast to pull back in 2014, but remain strong at nearly 2,400 units,” said the report.

“Modest absorption gains during the medium term are forecast to keep trimming inventories - they will dip below their 20-year average in the projection’s outer years. Falling inventories will give builders the confidence to boost housing starts.”

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, condo apartment MLS sales in the resale market totaled 1,062 after the first quarter. Sales growth was strongest in this sector due to the availability of listings, it said. New listings after the first quarter totaled 1,722, an 18 per cent increase over the previous year. While demand continued to outpace listing growth, keeping market conditions relatively tight, inventory levels are similar to the previous year, said the board.

“Nearly 50 per cent of new listings in the apartment sector are priced in the range of $200,000 - $299,999, providing options for those looking for affordable product,” said Bill Kirk, CREB’s president.

For the first quarter of this year, the average MLS sale price for condo apartments in Calgary is $317,855, up 9.03 per cent from the same period last year.

“Some easing of the supply pressure in the condominium market is expected as new construction projects are completed,” said Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB’s chief economist. “However, thanks to Calgary’s strong economy, it is expected that most new supply can be absorbed without risk of oversupply and condominium price correction.”

Photo By: Toni Holopainen

ENHANCING CURB APPEAL

Curb Appeal: Neutral paint adds elegance; flowers add flair
By Suzanne Rowe 
The Gazette March 11, 2014

A retired couple from Laval enjoy the location of their bungalow. This home, in which they've raised their children, is filled with precious memories.

The stone-grey shingles were in good condition. I felt that by painting the two pipes and the metal flashing at the base of the chimney in the identical shade of the roof and in a flat finish, these details would look less obvious. The white siding and other white elements were in perfect harmony with the neutral coloration of the beautiful brickwork. With time, these components may look a bit dingy. If so, they ought to be resurfaced with a few coats of exterior acrylic paint in a flat finish to rejuvenate their brightness.

The reddish orange accent on the posts conjured a distracting effect and gave these banal parts too much importance. In most cases, columns ought to reflect the same hue as the windows and fascias. After removing the third beam that was leaning on the corner of the wall and centring the second post between the small windows, the trio, as well as the new linear planks above, will be painted in a crisp white. The colour emphasis will now be provided by the freshly painted cranberry door, which is the new focal point.

A custom-made flower box would measure the entire length of the large widow and at least 20 centimetres high. It will be opaque stained in a dark warm grey tone in a soft sheen. The louvres as well as a tall but narrow vessel would reflect the same coloration. The container will be set near the entrance and host red annuals and climbing greenery. Our homeowners enjoy their well-groomed rock garden. Although being a welcoming feature on the side of the driveway, it is pretty much a secret landscape from the front view.

It could afford to flow more toward the centre lot in a curvy paisley form. The two main beds were timidly connected to each other with a slim strip of soil in the middle. I propose to exaggerate the outline into a more dramatic arched shape. I have redistributed the owners' oddly placed but meticulously pruned evergreens inside the two convex spaces. Alongside the stretch of the porch walk, a sequence of Buxus persistent shrubs will permanently camouflage the base of the floor without ever visually encroaching over the front portal. Bright lime and yellow foliage from some perennials and shrubs will provide an interesting interplay with a few purplish Cimicifuga Brunette and the red and gold petals of the Stella Ruby Hemerocallis. A snowy Clematis will embrace the newly painted white standing light fixture. Strings of transparent fishing lines, installed on this post will motivate the plant to climb. Inside the bed on the right, a miniature white blossoming tree will reside among three different-sized grey boulders. Before all ground cover has a chance to blanket the soil, a generous layer of black mulch is recommended between plantings.

Finally, the rotten gate at the end of the driveway will be substituted with a new one in which planks are of equal height and closely fitted together. This will ensure more privacy from the street perspective.

These simple upgrades on the facade and the enhancement of the garden composition will make our residents fall in love with their home all over again.

Vegetation (left to right):

- Clematis Duchess of Edinburgh (climber, double white blooms, cut back low over a set of fat bulbs every spring)

- Hemerocallis Stella Ruby (perennials, red with yellow heart, both beds)

- Spirea japonica White Gold (low shrubs, white blooms, yellow leaves, both beds)

- Buxus Green Velvet (owners' recuperated shrubs in both beds and new bushes alongside the porch walk)

- Cimicifuga ramose Brunette (perennials, white candles, deep purple, to hide white ramp and front of brick strip on the right bed)

- Owners' Thuja (small globular and egg-shaped evergreens, throughout beds)

- Hosta Sum and Substance (perennials, white blooms, yellow lime, in line with left window, disliked by slugs)

- Lamium maculatum White Nancy (perennials, white blooms, silver white with green edge, ground cover, both beds)

- Heucherella Stoplight (perennials, white blooms, lime leaves with a dark red vein, base of Buxus hedge, compost in spring, thick layer of black mulch)

- Impatiens Wallerana Dazzler Cranberry (annuals, red blooms, all containers, do not over-fertilize)

- Hedera helix (cascading greenery, green or variegated, take indoors for winter, return outdoors in spring)

- Hakanechloa macra Aureola (ornamental grasses, yellow ribbons, green stripe, left of right bed)

- Onoclea sensibilis (ferns, soft green, copper in fall, beneath centre of flower box)

- Euonymus fortunei Canadale Gold (low persistent shrub, green and gold leaves, front of right bed)

- Malus Sir Lancelot (small crab apple tree, white blooms, centred in the right side of bed away from window view)

- Hydrangea arborescens Annabelle (shrub, white blooms, front right of Cimicifuga, right bed)

A BIG HIKE

Calgary house price growth outpacing rest of Canada
9.6% annual hike for repeat home sales to record level
BY MARIO TONEGUZZI 
CALGARY HERALD MARCH 12, 2014

CALGARY - Calgary’s housing market continues to shine compared with the rest of the country as local residental real estate prices showed the highest growth rate in Canada in February, according to a report released Wednesday on repeat home sales.

Calgary prices rose by 9.6 per cent year-over-year and by 1.1 per cent month-over-month - both the best in the country and to an all-time high for the city, said the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index.

Nationally, of 11 centres surveyed, prices were up 5.0 per cent from last year and by 0.3 per cent from January.

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.

The trend in price increases in Calgary does not appear to be changing in March. According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, so far this month from March 1-11, the average MLS sale price in the city is up 5.28 per cent from the same time a year ago to $480,345 while the median price has increased by 7.25 per cent to $429,000. CREB stats indicate there have been 796 MLS sales so far this month, up 10.71 per cent from last year but new listings are down 4.05 per cent to 1,114 and active listings are off by 18.80 per cent to 3,049.

The Teranet-National Bank report said that for the second month in a row, prices for Canada as a whole rose to an all-time high, though new records were set in only two of the 11 metropolitan markets surveyed - Vancouver (for a fourth straight month) and Calgary (for the first time since September 2007).

The gain from a year earlier was well above the cross-country average in two of the 11 markets, Calgary and Vancouver (7.7 per cent). It was slightly above the average in Toronto (6.1 per cent) and Edmonton (5.3 per cent), equal to the average in Hamilton (5.0 per cent) and below it in Winnipeg (3.5 per cent) and Montreal (1.9 per cent).

In Halifax (4.7 per cent) and Ottawa-Gatineau (0.6 per cent), prices were down from a year earlier for a second consecutive month. In Victoria (3.4 per cent), home prices have been down from a year earlier for 12 months now. Quebec City posted its first 12 month deflation in 15 years (2.0 per cent). It is the first time since October 2009 that there is price deflation in at least four of the regions covered, said the report.

“In February the east-west dichotomy became more pronounced than ever,” it said.

Home prices were up from the month before in all five markets of Western Canada - Calgary, Vancouver and Victoria (0.9 per cent), Edmonton (0.6 per cent) and Winnipeg (0.5 per cent). The rise in Victoria ended a run of four consecutive monthly declines. For Vancouver it was the 10th consecutive monthly increase. In the six markets of central and eastern Canada, the only monthly rise was in Montreal (0.7 per cent), the second advance after six months of flat or declining prices. Prices were down 0.1 per cent in Toronto, making February the fourth month without a gain in the last six. For Ottawa-Gatineau (0.8 per cent) it was the sixth decline in a row, for Quebec City (1.7 per cent) the sixth in seven months. For Halifax (1.7 per cent) it was the third decline in a row, said the report.

AT WAR

Calgary homebuyers return to housing market bidding wars
BMO report says Canadians willing to pay more to get what they want
BY MARIO TONEGUZZI, 
CALGARY HERALD MARCH 5, 2014

CALGARY - Prospective Canadian homebuyers are more willing to enter into a bidding war this year for properties they want to purchase, says a new report released Wednesday by BMO.

And Calgary’s hot housing market is proving to be a good example of that as nearly 20 per cent of MLS residential sales in the city in February were for above list price.

The BMO Home Buying Report said 34 per cent of Canadians are willing to enter a bidding war when it’s time to buy a home, an increase of six points, or 21 per cent, from a year ago.

The report, conducted by Pollara, said that in major city centres, the appetite for competitive bids is the highest in Toronto and Vancouver (44 per cent and 41 per cent respectively). In Calgary, it is 38 per cent and in Alberta, it is 30 per cent.

“While many suspect bidding wars are triggered by sellers who deliberately price their homes below market, the report shows that just 15 per cent of owners have that motivation, with those on the Prairies and in Toronto the most likely to pursue this strategy - but even then the numbers are modest at 24 per cent and 22 per cent respectively,” said BMO, which says average home prices across Canada continue to rise, gaining momentum in the past year, with the average transaction price up nearly 10 per cent year-over-year in January. The average home sale price in Canada is currently just over $400,000.

“Calgary’s market continues to see the strongest fundamentals; Vancouver has rebounded from a soft patch; while Toronto’s market remains relatively balanced overall, though the condo market is more amply supplied,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist with BMO Capital Markets, in a statement. “Overall, sales are expected to hold relatively steady in the year ahead, with price growth in the low single-digit range, below the rate of income growth.”

Laura Parsons, mortgage expert with BMO Bank of Montreal, said the competition for real estate in Canada, particularly in hotter markets, can be fierce and turn into an emotional frenzy.

“A shortage of inventory is driving a lot of it,” said Parson of the Calgary market. “It’s such an emotional thing. When you see it, you get it. I remember the days when there were lineups of people behind each other. The minute you see that your heart starts to race and you want to not lose.

“Lots of people are prepared. They know what their high is . . . Calgary has the biggest income so we’re willing to spend more if we have to and hopefully we’ve been conservative before we go in and we know we have that room to bid higher.”

Parsons said many people don’t understand that they can renovate a home and build it into the purchase price.

For some people, she said, there’s a need to move before spring and they’re feeling the pressure.

Data released Monday by the Calgary Real Estate Board indicates all-time records, for any month, were set in February in the average city sale price ($482,530) and the median city price ($424,900) as well as in the single-family sale price ($550,312) and the single-family median price ($480,000).

“Calgary has been in a statistical sellers’ market since February 2013,” said Robyn Moser, a realtor with CIR Realty. “As time has passed, the sellers’ market has become increasingly aggressive. This has caused buyers to see lower and lower levels of inventory, placed into competing offers and homes selling in days if not hours. This cause is speculated to be the lack of available new home inventory due to Calgary sewer lines that are needing to be upgraded. This has placed metro Calgary real estate values into statistical unsustainable levels until the sewer line upgrade is complete.”

According to CREB, as of Tuesday, there were 2,893 active MLS listings in the city which was down 20.15 per cent from a year ago. Year-to-date, sales have increased by 11.77 per cent to 3,551 transactions.

Mike Fotiou, associate broker with First Place Realty, said Calgarians were so determined to buy a home in February that nearly one in five paid above the asking price.

“Of the 1,854 properties that sold during the month, 364 or 19.6 per cent of buyers paid higher than list price. Compare that to the 10.4 per cent of buyers from a year ago or the 6.1 per cent from February 2012 that paid above asking,” Fotiou wrote on his blog.

“As sales rise and inventory continues to decrease year-over-year, it’s to be expected that buyers will find themselves in more situations where multiple offers are involved.”