Diane Richardson

Cell: 403-397-3706 |

RSS

Calgary's healthy housing market

Calgary's healthy housing market

Will van ‘t Veld
Economist, ATB Financial

September 6, 2012

 

After a spring of defying the negative national housing market sentiment, the Calgary market cooled a bit in August. But, Alberta’s largest city remains one the nation’s most solid real estate markets. Back in February, the inventory-to-sales ratio in Calgary began to dip, as sales increased faster than new listings, indicating the market had quickly dipped into sellers’ territory. Buyers have since reversed that trend slightly, with the Calgary Real Estate Board reporting that monthly
sales in August dipped 11.6 per cent month-over-month.The swing in housing market activity can be seen in average residential price changes. That average residential price nudged down to $417,000 in August, a 2.2 per cent drop from July, which is nonetheless 3.1 per cent higher than a year ago. The MLS also computes a benchmark price, which is less volatile. The benchmark price adjusts for specific features, such as lot size, bedrooms and location. The jump in the MLS benchmark price index through 2012 has been pretty impressive, up 6.5 per cent on a year-over-year basis. Activity in the single family detached home market has been particularly strong over the past year, with the MLS benchmark index jumping 7.8 per cent yearover-year in August. This is the main reason the overall residential home price index has increased so noticeably, as detached homes make up the vast majority of residential sales.
For their part, condo and town home prices have been plodding along, with the benchmark price increasing 3.3 and 2.6 per cent, respectively, on an annual basis.

 

Calgary Home Inventory to Sales Ratio

http://www.industrymailout.com/Industry/Home/4706/17195/link389955/Daily%20Economic%20Comment%206-SEP-2012.pdf

Data is supplied by Pillar 9™ MLS® System. Pillar 9™ is the owner of the copyright in its MLS®System. Data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by Pillar 9™.
The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA. Used under license.