Prices begin to rise in active townhome segment

July was the fifth straight month resale of townhomes in Calgary outpaced activity from a year earlier and the first month in which prices were higher.

There were new owners for 216 townhomes in the city last month, rising eight per cent from 200 a year ago, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Between Jan. 1 and the end of July, resale of townhomes in Calgary grew 13 per cent year over year.

“Prices in this segment have declined at a greater rate than both the detached and semi-detached product,” says Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB’s chief economist.

“There is also more supply at the lower price ranges within this segment. Row product offers an alternative to apartment-style product, but at price levels that can be significantly lower than semidetached and detached product.

“One factor that can be influencing the demand growth for this product is the mortgage rule changes,” she adds.

“The qualification changes could have pushed some of that demand toward the more affordable row product.”

The benchmark price on townhomes in Calgary was $306,700 in July, the highest in a month since it was $310,100 in May 2016.

Benchmark prices are that of a typical home based on a formula that uses various factors to ensure accurate comparisons.

New listings and inventory of townhomes through Calgary’s resale market both recorded year over year increases last month with 392 and 1,001, up from 317 and 888, respectively.

An area CREB defines as south Calgary led in townhome sales in July with 45 transactions. South Calgary’s benchmark price of $267,200 was down four per cent from the same month in 2016.

Compared to townhomes, the other multi-family segments had more modest resale activity in July.

There was one more apartment sold through the city’s resale market last month than July 2016, 256 compared to 255. This marked a rebound from June, which was the only year over year sales decline for apartments in 2017.

Year to date, apartment sales in Calgary are up seven per cent from last year, says CREB.

Last month’s benchmark price was $266,200, down from $275,200 year over year. It also slipped by $700 from June 2017.

Inventory of apartments continued to top what was available in 2016 with 1,810 listings last month, up from 1,557 a year earlier.

At the same time, new listings inched back to 614 from 618.

For duplexes sold through the resale market in Calgary last month, sales slowed but both prices and inventory rallied from July 2016.

There were sales on 147 duplexes, down 18 per cent from 180 a year ago, says CREB.

At the same time, inventory expanded by 14 per cent to 596 from 520, and the benchmark price grew four per cent to $420,800 from $404,200.