Single-family home sales up but demand still weak
Resale of single-family homes in Calgary jumped 25 per cent last month, while the number of new listings tumbled.
There were 584 single-family homes sold through the city’s resale market in January, compared to 466 year over year, says the Calgary Real Estate Board. Last month’s output was also an improvement on the 570 sales from December 2016.
But it’s important to put the uptick in context, says CREB’s chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
“Even though sales have increased, levels were really low last year,” says Lurie. “Despite the increase, we’re still more than 20 per cent below long-term trends.
“It is absolutely better than last year ... this still represents a weak level of demand in the overall market,” she adds.
New listings of single-family homes in Calgary slid 17 per cent last month. There were 1,228 additions to the market in January compared to 1,487 a year ago.
This helped pull overall inventory down 27 per cent to 1,849 from 2,537 year over year.
“That comes back (to) the fact that supply levels of the market are adjusting to the lower level of demand,” Lurie says. “Essentially, what that will do is help our market inch toward more balanced conditions. We’re still in buyers’ market conditions, but it’s helping elevate some of that excess supply in the market which eventually should translate to stability in pricing.”
The benchmark price on singlefamily homes in Calgary last month was $500,400, a two per cent setback from $510,700 in January 2016.
A benchmark price is that of a typical home based on a formula that uses various factors to ensure accurate comparisons.
Last month’s benchmark was also down $1,200 from December 2016.
“That reflects that we’re still in buyers’ market conditions and it takes time to reflect that price stability,” says Lurie. However, she adds that, when looking at the rate of decline, “it seems to be easing.”
The $400,000 to $499,999 bracket led all price ranges with 98 of last month’s single-family sales. This improved by one transaction from the same month in 2016.
The largest increase came from the $600,000 to $649,999 range, which had 44 sales, up from 15 in January 2016.
WHERE THE SALES HAPPENED
An area CREB defines as south Calgary led all ends of the city with 134 single-family home sales in January. Northwest Calgary and southeast Calgary followed with 93 sales and 85 sales, respectively.
NEW LISTINGS
Sales and selection went handin- hand. South Calgary paced the city with 251 new listings last month. This was the only area with more than 200 additions to the market. Southeast Calgary was next with 197 new listings.
PRICES
An area CREB describes as west Calgary recorded the highest benchmark price in January at $698,600. The only other areas with a benchmark of more than $500,000 were the city centre at $648,200 and northwest Calgary’s $538,900. The lowest benchmark in the city last month was $359,100 in east Calgary.