Calgary's real estate market recorded yet another record month in March, with sale numbers & prices up in all segments.
CREB®'s chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie says the continued growth in the Calgary real estate market is a result of "the inflow of people to our province over the past 2 years combined with strong gains in employment and tight rental conditions".
Demand for property continues to be stronger than anything seen in seven years, and present listing inventory levels are lower than at anytime since 2006.
Calgary's real estate market continued to fire on all cylinders through the first 15 days of March, with sale numbers & prices up in both the home and condo segments. BMO Capital Markets released a report Friday which suggested Alberta was bound for another housing boom, but not at the frenzied pace seen in 2006/2007.
The pace of growth in Alberta's economy today, while "clearly superior" and "head and shoulders above the rest of the country", does not match that seen in 2006.
Demand for property continues to be stronger than anything seen since 2007, and while inventory levels are lower than at anytime since then, they are still higher than they were during the peak.
February Sees Continuing Seller's Market in Calgary
(Calgary March 1, 2014) Low listing inventory continued to put pressure on Calgary property prices in February, resulting in double digit increases in both home and condo prices. Buyers are desperate in price ranges under $600,000, where listing inventory is now only 1 month. 21% of all Calgary homes sales in February sold for over list price as property listing inventory fell 19% below levels seen same time last year.
Prices for Calgary homes rose 10% vs a year ago, while condos sold for 15% more in February. Combined home & condo sales volume rose 9%, with condo sales increasing by 25% while homes sales were up 2% versus February 2013.
February was the 11th consecutive month with a Yr/Yr
Lately the news has been flooded with articles about the affordable housing market in Alberta. All this excitement was the result of the release of the RBC November report on Housing Trends & Affordability.
You may have heard Alberta had the lowest affordability measures of all the provinces in Canada:
Detached bungalow: 32.8%
Standard two-storey: 36.0%
Standard condominium: 21.3%
Calgary housing affordability was slightly higher than the provincial numbers but "continues to be one of the most affordable major cities in the country":
Detached Calgary bungalow: 37.6%
Standard Calgary two-storey: 38.2%
Standard Calgary condominium: 23.2%
This sounds great, but what exactly does it all mean? Where do these numbers come
Where do Calgarian's with high net-worth buy property in the city? Overwhelmingly it seems in Southwest Calgary Neighbourhoods:
two-thirds (68%) of Calgary luxury sales are in SW Calgary
one-quarter (24%) of Calgary luxury sales are in NW Calgary
one-tenth (9%) of Calgary luxury sales are in SE Calgary
Notably, there have been no million dollar+ sales in NE Calgary year-to-date
There have been 417 "million dollar+ sales" year to date in metro Calgary. This number represents the highest percentage of luxury sales to total metro sales recorded in any of the past 5 years:
2011: 417 luxury sales out of a total 16,922 metro sales = 2.46% *year-to-date*