Chestermere Sell to Ask  Averaging closer to 97% December 10. 2015

It is a difficult time to know exactly what the market in Chestemere is doing.  Looking at the sales for past 7 days, prices seem to be declining. Sale price to ask price is closer to 97%.  The number of sales is not off, however nothing over $600k has sold, and there is more room between ask and sell than last year.

Chestermere Weathers Storm Well.  July 13, 2015

Only 5 % of Chestermere Homes have water damage after 8 inches of rain was poured on the city in 2 hours.  In the 2013 Calgary flood there was only 5.5 inches in 2 hours.

Because Chestermere has many ponds, streams, canals and a 750 acre reservoir that is part of an irrigation system, there were lots of places for water to go, once the storm system was overwhelmed.   Most storm systems are designed to clear 23 mm of water in 15 minutes.  After this they cannot keep up.

Fortunately the canals, ponds, lake and irrigation system helped Chestermere clear the water before it got into more homes.  Otherwise the entire city could have been sitting in 6 inches of water.  The lake level rose to about 18 inches, but at no time was there ever a danger of the lake overflowing.   18 inches over 750 acres is a lot of water!   The Western Irrigation District opened the outflows from Chestermere to absorb the excess water runoff.    Some of the ponds were overwhelmed by water, but things would have been much worse without the ponds and streams to accept the water.

Chestermere’s building code also requires sump pumps on 95% of the homes in Chestermere.  Unfortunately the power was out during most of the storm.  However many homes were saved by this policy once electricity was restored.

This is not much of a consolation if your home was one of the ones hit hard, but perhaps it should be.  Most of the people we have spoken to that had damage have already contacted their insurance companies and have had their basements pumped out and floor coverings removed.   If this had happened in a typical Calgary neighbourhood, I am sure many more homes would have been affected and recovery would take much longer.

In Chestermere volunteers were going up and down streets looking for homes that needed help.  Others were baking cookies to deliver to workers and a meal was prepared at the community centre for anyone affected by the flood.

Chestermere is a great community with many streams and ponds to admire, but we must remember they are there to help resist flooding.  Up until this storm they have done their job very well.

Marjorie McKay

Broker/Owner

RE/MAX REAL ESTATE ADVOCATES
CHESTERMERE, AB.