RECORDS FALL AT THE RIVER
Two condos at luxury local development hit highest sold prices in three years
The River is setting records again in Calgary’s luxury condo market with two sales — one over $5 million, and the other for almost $8.4 million.
The two sales mark records for the highest sold price for condos sold in Calgary on the Multiple Listing Service over the past three years, Sotheby’s International Realty Canada announced Monday.
The River is a luxury condo development by 26th Avenue River Investments Inc., an affiliate of Ledcor Properties, in Mission. The 5,000-square-foot and 3,000-square-foot condos sold for their list prices of $8,389,500 and $5.145 million respectively, with the sales finalized on Monday, July 18. The larger apartment is a subpenthouse on the 14th floor of the 15-storey tower, while the other is on the 11th floor.
Construction is complete on the 38-unit building located on the north bank of the Elbow River, on 26th Avenue and 1 Street S.W., and owners have begun to take possession.
“It’s so good to see people having confidence in the Calgary market. It’s a big sign of confidence,” says Anne Clarke, director of sales at The River.
“We had four remaining out of our 38 ( homes). Of those four, two of them were priced over $5 million. We haven’t seen a lot of activity in that price point. I can tell you that we’ve had significant activity since people have started moving into The River because it’s such a unique building.”
There are two townhomes — complete and move-in ready — in the low-rise building in the development for sale from the developer’s side, and three resale units, one with an offer on it, available at The River.
“Our water fountains are work- ing now, and our landscaping is all coming in, so people are like, ‘ Wow, this place is really spectacular.’ You walk in and it’s something that you’d find in New York or a major metropolitan city,” Clarke says.
Despite the challenges in the Calgary economy, the list prices on The River condos have not changed since the project was launched in 2011.
“These are the prices, and (the homes) are rare. I think it gave purchasers and homeowners confidence because when you have something that’s rare and hard to find, it does maintain its value,” Clarke says.
The River’s penthouse unit set a sales record in 2012, garnering $8.99 million for the 5,600-squarefoot home.
Calgary’s luxury resale market has seen 317 sales of homes priced above $1 million in the first six months of 2016, says Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist for the Calgary Real Estate Board.
This is up from 292 units last year and represents a larger share of the sales activity in the market (3.44 per cent compared to 2.89 per cent last year).
Rising detached home sales are driving the increase, with both apartment and attached homes continuing to see slower sales in the higher price ranges.
Because the overall segment of the market is too small to accurately present segmented price trends, Lurie is hesitant to call the uptick in $1 million-plus sales a return of confidence in the total market.
“Anecdotally, we have heard that price adjustments occurring in the upper ranges has been the contributing factor to improved sales,” Lurie says. “It likely reflects the ability for some purchasers in stable professions to use the downturn as an opportunity to potentially purchase a property that was previously out of reach.”