Well it’s been a long haul but we are finally settling into our real estate recovery in Calgary.
Detached house prices have risen every single month this year and are now 1.7% above prices from a year ago.
If you bought a house from May 2014 to December 2015, your house is unfortunately still worth slightly less than what you paid. Outside of that time frame, however, the benchmark detached price is higher than any other time in history 🙂
2013 and 2014 were very busy years seeing more than 1,000 detached sales per month for every month except December and January. In contrast, 2016 only saw 1,000+ sales in six of the 12 months.
2017 so far has had four of the six months above 1,000 detached sales and nearly 1,400 in each of May and June. Buyers are definitely ready to make decisions this year in Calgary.
The apartment market continues to lag but has shown good stability through the first two quarters of 2017. The benchmark price is still down 3.5% from a year ago and about 11% down from the recent highs in late 2014.
However, that price has fluctuated by less than 1% the past seven months in a row, even seeing slight gains from May to June.
The number of sales per month is still well below numbers posted in 2014 (often 400+ sales) with recent months in the high 200’s. Some of the new construction inventory has been absorbed, helping bring the amount of total inventory down and allowing the demand/supply ratio to strengthen.
One slightly surprising figure is the increase in pricing in the semi-detached market. This includes single-family homes (no condo fees) that have one attached wall, commonly known as infills or duplexes.
That market sector has risen by over 7% year-over-year and is at an all-time high! This may be due in part to the increasing popularity of high-end infills in inner-city communities, with many new construction infills selling above $800,000.
Overall the market is showing many signs of strength and stability, however external factors continue to threaten our gains – continued low oil prices, layoffs and the recent increase in mortgage interest rates – so we will cautiously watch statistics over the coming months.
As always, if you would like more detailed pricing stats or recent sales for your own neighbourhood, please don’t hesitate to call, text or email!
-Amie
