First month in to 2017 and we are looking much better than last year at this time. Although that’s not a big feat as last January was a record setting slow month, but hey, we are glass half full people here! The last few weeks have been really busy. I have already helped a couple buyers find homes this year. The signal for the bottom may have arrived and that pent up demand I’ve been talking about over the last 2 years is starting to release. Although it wouldn’t take much for people to want to feel like we are in a better economic situation, there are reasons for optimism. Pipeline approval being one and the ‘Trump factor’ has been surprisingly positive so far. And it’s not just the buyers that have been waiting. There are plenty of sellers out there that have been biding their time until market conditions show signs of change. Sales for the city of Calgary were up 24% compared to last year. This does seem like a big jump, however, this is still 20% below the 10 year average so don’t get too excited. It wasn’t just the detached segment that buoyed sales either. Apartment sales were up 17% and row sales were up 30%. Both of these segments needed a bit of a jolt. Inventory levels have been low throughout the winter sitting at 4,112 units (18% lower than a year ago). City wide months of supply sits at 3.2 which is down from 5.4 last year. Even though sales in the apartment segment were up, inventory levels stayed flat. Benchmark prices are down 5% from January 2016 sitting at $269,900. I’m seeing especially high inventory in the northeast, southeast & east districts. The detached segment saw a big jump in sales with $600K-$800K homes. Fence sitters! Buyers have been bird dogging the market and trying to guess where the trough is. They may have found it. Sales were up 25% and inventory was down 27%. Benchmark price is $500,400 which is down 2% from last year. Prices are only down 4.9% since peak levels in 2014. That’s a far cry from the 20% that the media was predicting when this all started. The West and East districts saw an increase in price year over year while the northeast took a 1.6% drop since December. This may seem alarming, however, the northeast has enjoyed some really nice gains over the past year. Semi detached homes also saw an increase in sales activity in the higher end ($700K-$900K). Inventory levels are down 24% and benchmark prices have been fairly steady over the past year dropping only 1.4%. The city centre, northwest & West districts benchmark prices have increased year over year. The lower end of row housing (<$300K) and apartments (<$200K) also saw a jump in activity. We are probably seeing the effect of the new mortgage rules from the feds. While consumer’s buying power has been decreased this range of product is the ‘new affordable’. Price drops were alleviated in the row segment with an increase of sales (30%) and decrease in inventory (16%). Months of supply is now under 5 compared to 7.4 last January. The northwest & East districts are where you can find a good deal as prices have dropped 7.2% year over year. Each area in the surrounding towns tells its own story. Airdrie saw a drop in price of 1.9% since last month! Supply is starting to creep up with just under 6 months supply, however, a big reason for that is the apartment & row housing out there. Cochrane’s benchmark price is at $423,700 which is only down 1.3% since last year. Prices have stayed fairly flat since last fall. Sales for the month of January are on par with the 10 year average which puts Cochrane in pretty good shape. Okotoks prices have dropped 4% year over year. They are running high inventory levels as sales were considerably lower in the last couple months compared to most of last year. Chestermere has approximately 7 months supply. Benchmark prices there are $484,600.
For a more in depth look at the stats click the links – Calgary or Calgary Region
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