Single-family real estate market similar to last year
New construction of single-family homes in the Calgary area in February matched the number of starts from the same month in 2017.
Ground broke in February for 296 single-family homes in the Calgary census metropolitan area, says Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. The census metropolitan area includes builds in nearby cities and towns, including Airdrie, Chestermere, and Cochrane.
This February, there were fewer single-family starts within Calgary city limits, but more in the surrounding areas, compared to last year. Last month, 218 took root within the city, dipping from 238 year over year.
Here are seven things to know about construction of single-family homes in the Calgary area last month.
1 The strongest upswing in starts was in a heritage town west of the city. Builders turned shovels for 28 single-family homes in Cochrane last month, doubling the February 2017 tally of 14, says CMHC.
2 February marked the 12th consecutive month the city’s northwest quadrant paced all ends of Calgary in starts of single-family homes. Northwest Calgary led the way with 64 starts last month, easing from 78 in February 2017.
The next most active end of Calgary was the Fish Creek area, adding 46 single-family homes.
3 There were 292 more singlefamily homes with construction in progress in northwest Calgary than the next most active end of the city last month. The quadrant recorded 621 single-family in various stages of construction, eclipsing southeast Calgary, the next busiest, with 329.
4 Supply of new single-family homes last month edged the number from February 2017 by five, says CMHC. There were 439 constructed but unabsorbed single-family homes, up from 434 a year ago.
5 Northwest Calgary not only leads all ends of the city in supply of new single-family homes, it more than doubles the next most active area. There were 134 singlefamily homes ready for possession, topping northeast Calgary with 61.
6 Prices dipped for both absorbed and unabsorbed single-family homes. The average price on unabsorbed single-family homes was $725,628, down from $772,031. Prices on absorbed single-family homes pulled back to $660,093, from $690,139 a year ago.
7 Southwest Calgary was the priciest end of the city to purchase a quick possession singlefamily home. Its average value was $1,216,845 on 29 homes. The most affordable area was northeast Calgary, averaging $550,139 on 61 homes. In Airdrie and Cochrane, the averages were $535,295 and $537,059, respectively.