Our March statistics came out recently and I’m not sure there is a great explanation for why, but strong spring conditions are in full swing in Calgary real estate! Demand is strong while supply is low, creating very tight market conditions in certain sectors.
Competing offers are being seen more regularly now and the average days on market is dropping. Buyers are seeing homes they had their eye on selling, motivating people to make a decision quicker.
This is a contrast from the conditions throughout 2015 and 2016 that favoured buyers. There was plenty of time to view and re-view properties before putting in a low bid. Nowadays, properties in good condition and priced appropriately are garnering interest right away and houses overall are selling for an average of 97% of list price.
The big exception is the apartment-condo market, which still has over five months worth of inventory. The average days on market for an apartment is 57, quite a contrast from the average 38 for a detached home. Apartment prices are also still down 4% year-over-year whereas detached homes have returned to virtually the same pricing, down just 0.3%.
If you are considering moving from a house to an apartment, market conditions right now are extremely favourable for you! If you are moving from an apartment to a house, it’s a little bit trickier and it’s important to have good advice for pricing and timing strategy.
As has been the case for the last couple of years, different areas of the city are showing a variety of trends in some surprising ways. These sample groups are small so the statistics can be exaggerated but a couple of examples:
Apartment prices in the NE sector in the city are UP 9.3% year-over-year while…
Apartment prices in the City Centre sector in the city are DOWN 3.8%
Detached prices in the West sector in the city are UP 2.5% while…
Detached prices in the SE sector in the city are DOWN 1.9%
In the same sector, different property types are seeing different pricing trends, such as:
Detached prices in the NW sector in the city are UP 1.4% while…
Row house prices in the NW sector in the city are DOWN 6.5% while…
Overall the total number of sales this year is up 20% from last year, showing much more confidence from buyers ready to move forward. Although we haven’t fully recovered from the weaker economic conditions, there seem to be good signs pointing toward a stronger market ahead.
For a full stats package, either for the City of Calgary or for your own specific community, please don’t hesitate to drop us a note!
