Single-family resale activity picking up

March was the busiest month for resale of single-family homes in Calgary since June 2016.

There were 1,176 of these homes sold in the city last month, jumping 17 per cent from 1,005 transactions year over year, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

“It’s not so much that demand went through the roof in March, but that we had less supply come onto the market, which is really helping to balance things out,” said CREB’s president David P. Brown. “These changes are lifting the cloud of uncertainty for housing consumers and nicely positioning our market as we move into the more active spring season.”

The first quarter of 2017, overall, saw improved sales over the same period a year ago. Transactions climbed 19 per cent to 2,584 sales.

PRICES GROWING

While the benchmark price is still short of the 2016 mark, it’s showing improvement. The single-family benchmark for the first quarter of 2017 was $502,067, dipping one per cent from $507,667 a year ago, says CREB. But it stepped up in March, increasing to $503,900, a $2,000 hike from February 2017. Benchmark prices are that of a typical home based on a formula that uses various factors to ensure accurate comparisons.

PRICE CHANGES

An area defined by CREB as west Calgary recorded the highest year over year increase in benchmark price of single-family homes last month. Its benchmark in March was $715,900, up 2.5 per cent from the same time in 2016. Northwest Calgary and east Calgary followed with a year over year uptick of 1.4 per cent and 0.9 per cent, respectively. The northwest benchmark was $544,900 and it was $357,800 on the east end of the city.

PRICE RANGES SELLING

The $450,000 to $499,999 price range was the most active for single-family home sales through the resale market in the first quarter. This bracket saw 415 deals, up from 336 during the same period a year ago. The most substantial year over year increase was in the $600,00 to $649,999 range with 177 sales over the first quarter versus 98 a year ago.

WHERE SALES HAPPENED

An area CREB defines as south Calgary topped the city in resale of single-family homes in the first quarter with 533 transactions. The next most active area was southeast Calgary, where 394 homes changed hands.

SLIDING SUPPLY

Three months into 2017, inventory of single-family homes tumbled 28 per cent from the same period a year ago, says CREB. There were 2,052 homes in the segment, down from 2,861 year over year.