Calgary Real Estate Blog

With relatively low inventories – and not just because of flood damage – the Calgary real estate market is on fire right now. The Calgary Herald reports that condos, bungalows, and two-storey homes have all increased in price by 6 to 7 percent in the second quarter, year-over-year, as listings regularly receive multiple offers. The flood certainly didn’t help with the inventory crunch, but the overall trends shouldn’t be affected long-term by that mess; this isn’t a short term blip, it’s a larger trend.

And it’s not just the common-man homes that are moving: a record number of $4 million-plus homes have been sold so-far in July (and it’s only the 9th). There’s more inventory available in the luxury market, and the higher prices and low availability of mid-range homes, combined with interest rates that look like they’ll stay low for another couple of years, are all factors encouraging people looking to move up.

So, if you’re thinking about selling your present home and move into something larger, be prepared to act fast once you find that perfect place. And have a solid idea of the maximum you’re willing to spend – those susceptible to getting caught up in a bidding war could take a hit in today’s market. Smart buyers approaching transactions logically and not emotionally, however, should still be able to find the right home at the right price.

With all the destruction from the floods there is real need to pull together and help each other through this.  If anywhere can do this it’s Calgary!

Here are some links / numbers for donations:

Red Cross – 1-800-418-111

YYCHelps

Place2Give

The City of Calgary is currently not accepting donations or volunteers at its reception centres.  Keep an eye on the webpage for updates.

For anyone struggling or needing support during this major flood crisis, here are some key resource links:

City of Calgary News

Calgary Newsroom Evacuation Plan

Alberta Government Transportation – Alberta Emergency Alert

Stay safe and dry!

Yet another good news article about Calgary’s real estate market: we saw more than a 10 percent jump in sales from March to April, as opposed to the national trend going down more than three percent in the same period. And this is just the beginning.

Spring is obviously the time new home developers start churning out properties, and despite what the noisemakers might have you believe, there is plenty of land already approved for community growth. New home builds will probably be plentiful, and marketing aggressive. As housing prices continue their steady climb upwards, we can expect lots more existing properties to go on sale with some people looking to move up, and others downsizing.

If you’re thinking about making a move, it’s a good time to sell – prices going up – but also a good time to buy thanks to the copious inventory. Things usually aren’t so balanced, but so it goes in Calgary. I can help you sort it all out – contact me for more information.

The Calgary Real Estate Board monthly reviews the market to determine a benchmark price, which is the price of a typical single-family home in the city (as opposed to an average, which can be skewed when properties like Iginla’s mansion sell). The benchmark price in Calgary for April hit just under $453,000, which snatches the record high from 2007’s booming jaws. The Calgary Herald did a good job running down many of the factors influencing Calgary’s staggering market growth, but what makes me happy is how organically the growth is occurring: there’s no oil boom making people lose their minds or lax regulations letting anyone and his dog qualify for a mortgage. Instead, it’s simply our city being an attractive place to live and work, and there being more jobs to go around then elsewhere.

April was the best sales month I’ve had in my 13-year career, and while each month likely won’t be able to top the last, there are no signs of things slowing down. This is a good time to sell your home – a sellers market – so don’t be shy about giving me a call to explore what your home might be worth.

Despite sounding like an ornithological journal, the National Migration Trend Report is actually an annual publication by that esteemed purveyor of inexpensive moving trucks, U-Haul. The report looks at one-way trips to any city in Canada as an indicator of relocating families and individuals, and found that in 2012, more people moved to Calgary than any other city. Not a huge surprise given Calgary’s upbeat economy, lack of snow (ha, ha), and excellent Realtors (that’s not a joke). Our province’s population is growing at more than double the national average, and Alberta is predicted to become the country’s third-largest province (leapfrogging BC) is just eight years. So next time you’re grouchy because traffic is snarled by yet another infrastructure project, bear in mind how many more people there are going to be on our roads in a few years.

This comes as no surprise for me!  The latest CTV news article, Decrease in listings increases demand for Calgary homes, outlines some of the reasons why this year is proving to be a hot one for real estate sales.  There are nearly 20 percent less home listed compared to the same time last year, which is driving prices upwards and days on market downwards.

As our city sprawls out there is also increasing demand for inner-city property.  The Calgary Herald recent posted an article stating that inner-city neighbourhoods saw an increase of 250-260% between 2000-2012.

If you want to take advantage of this market contact me today!

Fill in our free Market Report request to receive monthly email reports detailing all the sales in your neighbourhood, including photos & addresses.

So this was unusual: Finance Minister Jim Flaherty apparently convinced Manulife Bank to reconsider a rate cut the institution had put in place, citing concerns about consumer debt levels. Manulife had just posted a five-year fixed rate mortgage at 2.89 percent when Mr. Flaherty’s office called the bank with a message that such a move would be “unacceptable.” Two weeks ago, BMO received a similar warning after posting a 2.99 percent five-year fixed rate; that bank, however, decided against rolling back.

While very good, these rates are certainly not unheard of in the broader market.

This type of basically unprecedented intervention is concerning and problematic, even if you can see where the government is coming from. Unlike in Calgary’s market, real estate sales are down significantly in the rest of the country, but prices aren’t yet dropping a commensurate amount. That means those who are looking to buy a home are still paying big prices, and some are taking on large mortgages to cover the costs. Should the market continue to stagnate, prices will inevitably go down and a segment of those new buyers may end up underwater. Flaherty has already made stricter rules around qualifying for mortgages with less than 20 percent down (meaning, those that require insurance through CMHC) four times in recent years, and has now, it seems, taken to pressuring private lenders directly.

At the end of the day, though, banks should – and still do – have the right to set their rates as they see fit, competing for, in some places, a shrinking pool of buyers. The meltdown in the US was a cautionary tale, but our financial system is a far cry from being as corrupted as that one was, and while house prices have room to go down, panic that we’re on the cusp of a bursting bubble is, in my opinion, somewhat misplaced. Limit CMHC-backed mortgages to 25-year amortizations? Sure, sounds reasonable, and limits the government’s exposure. But let the lenders do their thing.

I’ve been talking a lot in this space about how Calgary’s housing market is outperforming all comers; well, here’s more proof: we broke a record in February for the highest average selling price for single family homes. The figure, $518,452, comes in a little over two percent higher than the previous record set in 2007 (also known as Calgary’s most recent boom). Now, of course there are extenuating factors coming into play here – notably the fact that the all-time most expensive home sale in the city’s history closed last month, as did a record number of other $1 million plus sales – so CREB’s benchmark numbers are maybe a little more useful when determining what the average Calgarian entering the market is looking at. Those put the typical single-family home at about $440,000, which is still close to $90,000 more than January’s national average.

So is Calgary’s market on-track to price itself out of reach for the average young family looking for a starter home? I don’t think so. The vast diversity of neighbourhoods – and their proximity to downtown – available to residents ensures there’s a price point for everyone, and as Mayor Nenshi wrote in the Herald last weekend, more than 22 square kilometres of serviced land are available for new development, enough to house hundreds of thousands of people at fair prices.

This has already been a banner year for me, and it’s only March; the proverbial sun is shining, so I’m making some hay. I did, however, find the time to add some new functionality to our website: our new, free Market Report tool allows you to see your neighbourhood’s detailed sales history, including addresses and prices. Check it out!

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