Sept 2023 sales of detached homes reaches peak. Apartment sales continue upward growth.

It doesn’t come as any surprise for this time of year that detached homes sales start to wain. It appears Calgary and area reached its peak for price and sales volumes for detached homes this past month. However, 20+% of homes are still selling for list price or higher and inventory of new and used homes for sale remains low. I don’t see any relief on that front with thousands of people coming to our province every month. Apartment sales and row housing continue to be attractive investments and should remain so for the foreseeable future. Inventory levels in all categories remains tight. As long as new construction costs remaining high, we will not see any price relief for buyers anytime soon in both the new and used home markets. The markets are becoming more manageable with less need for buyers to panic.

Two months till Christmas! Crazy where this year has gone.

August 2023 Home and Apartment sales continue upward trends as supply remains an issue

August is usually a month when things slow down in the local real estate market as people get out and enjoy our best month of the year. However, this August defied that trend. The graphs attached are reminiscent of 2006 when the market just never slowed down and pushed through the normal bell curve of annual real estate sales trends. The key fall market indicator in the attached graphs is the supply side of what happened in August. A number of factors are driving our local market conditions: the key ones being: 1) Many current homeowners are staying put as they can’t afford to sell and move given mortgage rate increases and the cost of financing thus restricting the supply of resale homes. 2) New construction costs are extremely volatile and many builders are being very cautious about commiting to new builds and are often having to hold decisions to secure quotes and nail down costs. Thus we have a shortage of new homes, townhomes, and apartments. 3) Labour shortages are driving up new construction costs and timelines for project completions as well as how many projects can be taken on. 4) We are still seeing a good deal of net migration to the province as it remains relatively affordable vs many other areas of Canada.

Without a dramatic increase in new construction and some creative ways for current home-owners to purchase them, we will continue to have a shortage of preowned properties in our region. I had thought we might be peaking after July, but August trends tell a different story. The fall market is usually much stronger than the summer market. Stay tuned.

July 2023 Sales starting to come down to earth, Inventory levels starting to creep up

Our local real estate market is starting to show early signs of price growth decline and a move to more inventory and choices for buyers. This is typical for this time of year. In 2022 we peaked in June. Inventory levels remain low and new builds are still behind demand. Affordability remains an issue with apartment sales and row housing being a popular choice for many. I predict we will see a more balanced market over the next couple months with perhaps a fall run as global and domestic investment dollars focus on our region. We continue to experience good net migration which will protect us from any major market correction due to rising interest rates and cost of living. As far as the longer term future goes and looking at it from a big picture stand point it is worth noting that by 2050 the global population is forecast to grow by 1.5bn to 9.7bn and its middle class to double to 6bn people.

June 2023 Real Estate Prices Reach New Highs

Real Estate prices continues to climb in all sectors of the Foothills Region of Alberta. Inventory shortages, lower new building permits being issued, big net migration of people to our region has created the perfect storm for our current real estate market. High interest rates have changed what people buy, however, relative to many other parts of Canada, real estate is still cheap here which is what is pushing up prices. From 2019-2022 our region did not see the price gains that the rest of Canada saw so it many ways, we are just catching up. There is one bright spot for buyers however. If you have over $1.5 million to spend, there are some deals to be had. In the Foothills County, there are 64 acreage homes for sale over $1,500,000 with only 4 sales in June. The city of Calgary has 210 homes for sale over $1.5mil with 52 sales in June. To find out more market specifics as it pertains to you, contact Tim Jones as he would be happy to explain things further.