Affordability helping condos

Resale market seen as balanced

Higher prices and lower supply in the detached single-family home market is driving home buyers into the condominium market, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Condo sales in Calgary are improving, CREB’s December report notes. Monthly fluctuations saw increases and dips in sales monthover-month, while the yearover-year numbers show an overall increase in sales.

Listings declined in both the apartment and townhome condo sectors, keeping both markets in balanced conditions and allowing prices to rise.

Prices have increased annually, but it’s important to consider the various comparisons. The annual average price of condo apartments grew by five per cent, pushed up by several multi-milliondollar condo sales in 2012.

In comparison, benchmark prices for condo apartments, based on a CREB formula to compare growth for the same type of property, only grew by two per cent year over year.

Slow, steady growth is the direction CREB predicts the Calgary housing market will continue in.

“Calgary’s 2013 housing sector growth will ease both in terms of sales and price growth, differing from the declines expected on a national level,” says chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie of CREB in a news release.

December saw a total of 219 condo apartment sales, a 19.6 per cent increase over December 2011, with 183 sales.

Year over year, condo apartment sales have increased 11.5 per cent, with 3,501 sales in 2012 compared to 3,139 sales in 2011.

The average price in December rose 12.72 per cent in December to $304,421 from $270,063 in December 2011.

Condo townhomes saw a drop in sales for December, at 119 sales, compared to the previous December, with 125 sales.

Year over year, condo townhomes sales have increased 16.09 per cent, with 2,597 sales in 2012 compared to 2,237 sales in 2011.

The average price in December rose 4.49 per cent to $305,676 compared to $292,548 in December 2011.

Zone C, which is roughly southwest Calgary, led the city’s condo sales in December with 186 transactions averaging $345,845.

The community in the city with the most sales was Connaught, in Zone C, with 21 sales averaging $375,435.

Zone B, roughly the city’s northeast quadrant, saw the most affordable condo sales in December with an average of $174,571 at 28 transactions.

The neighbourhood with the highest average price on sales was Eau Claire in Zone C, with six sales averaging $1.2 million.