Oversupply continues to drive down housing prices in Calgary, CREB says
CALGARY • Home sales in Calgary were down 14 per cent in 2018 compared to the year before, the latest housing market report from the Calgary Real Estate Board indicates.
According to the report, December sales totalled 794 units, which was down 21 per cent from a year earlier. Overall sales in the city for 2018 totalled 16,144 units, including detached homes, apartments, and attached homes, which is almost 20 per cent below long-term averages.
Meanwhile, inventory levels in December sat at 4,904 units, which CREB said is 30 per cent above typical levels for the month.
CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie said weakness in the job market and changes in the lending market affected sales activity in the resale market in 2018.
“This contributed to elevated supply in the resale market, resulting in price declines,” Lurie said in a news release.
CREB said elevated resale inventories in 2018 were caused by gains in the detached and attached sectors.
Home buyers and sellers had to change their expectations as sellers competed with both more choice in the housing resale market and in the new-home market, CREB president Tom Westcott said.
“With less people looking for a home, it became a choice between delaying when to sell or adjusting the sale price,” Westcott said. “However, buyers looking for more affordable product did not find the same price adjustments that existed in some of the higher price ranges.”
Benchmark prices for detached homes totalled $481,400 in December, which was down one per cent from the previous month. Overall, 2018 prices declined by 1.5 per cent compared to 2017, CREB said.
Oversupply continued in the apartment condominium sector, but CREB said supply has been easing. Benchmark prices for condos in December were $251,500, more than two per cent below 2017. Prices have declined by a total of 14 per cent since 2014, the report indicated.
The benchmark price for semi-detached homes in December was $397,500, a 3.8 per cent decrease from 2017, while row prices were $288,400, almost four per cent below 2017 levels.