Calgary’s resale single-family home market picks up by six per cent
Listings rise up by two per cent as prices climb for third straight month
There were 68 more single-family homes sold through Calgary’s resale market in April than the same month in 2016.
This marked a six per cent increase to 1,204 transactions from 1,136 a year ago, says the Calgary Real Estate Board. April was the busiest month for single-family sales in Calgary since 1,282 homes changed hands in June 2016.
“Improvements in the employment situation were necessary to prevent further declines in the housing sector,” says CREB’s chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie, on the overall uptick in activity across Calgary’s resale housing market.
“However, economic recovery is still expected to be slow, impacting the pace and quality of job growth. Based on current expectations this should translate into a more prolonged period of recovery in the housing market.”
While the price of buying a single-family home through Calgary’s resale market last month fell short of figures from April 2016, it’s now seen three straight months of growth.
The benchmark price of singlefamily homes in the city last month reached $504,100. In January, February and March 2017, the prices were $500,400, $501,900, and $503,900, respectively.
Benchmark prices are that of a typical home based on a formula that uses various factors to ensure accurate comparisons.
Resale of single-family homes in Calgary last month was led by the $400,000 to $449,999 price range, accounting for 195 transactions. This was one sale short of what it produced in April 2016.
The price range with the sharpest sales growth was $700,000 to $799,999, rallying to 74 deals last month from 46 a year ago.
New listings of single-family homes saw a small increase last month, while overall inventory tumbled by 616 homes.
There were 1,861 single-family homes added to Calgary’s resale market in April, up two per cent from 1,820 new listings in April 2016. Inventory, meanwhile, slipped 20 per cent to 2,522 from 3,128.
Single-family resale last month was paced by an area CREB defines as south Calgary, reaching 259 sales. The south end also led all areas of the city in both inventory and new listings last month, with 470 and 358 units, respectively.
In sales activity, south Calgary was followed by 187 transactions in the southeast, 170 in north Calgary, 158 in the northwest, and 133 in an area CREB calls the city centre. Northeast Calgary saw 128 homes change hands and there were 33 sales on the east end of the city, as well.
The most expensive single-family homes in the city last month were found in west Calgary. The benchmark price in this area was $718,700, up 3.5 per cent from the April 2016. This was the highest year over year increase of any end of Calgary.