We hang our hats on being honest and realistic to best inform and educate our clients. We are currently experiencing the softest market conditions we have seen for a long time in Calgary. Not to be all doom and gloom – while we are seeing national headlines that speak of crashes, that’s not the reality in our city.
But what do the current conditions mean for you and your situation? How bad is this softer market in reality? What are the best opportunities right now as we enter the fall market?
Apartments have been hit the hardest with price drops this year. Prices are down 6.4% year-over-year. Which feels like a lot given the record-highs we experienced up until recently. But apartment prices are still up 6.5% over a two year period and 39% over a five year period.
Apartment sales were lower than the monthly numbers for September in 2022, 2023 and 2024 but they were still higher than 2021 and every September prior to that. This can be in part related to the high number of condos that have been built in Calgary over the last five years – they are taking up a bigger percentage of our overall housing inventory now than in the past.
Detached homes are often touted to be the most resilient product type as the first to increase and last to decrease. A true reflection of the market we’re in, detached home prices are down just 1% year-over-year, and 2.5% from their peak in March of this year. They are still up 7.7% over a two year period and a whopping 49% over a five year period! Detached sales were the lowest number for the month of September since 2019 reflecting the least urgency that we’ve seen for buyers in the last 5 years.
With these sales numbers dropping and the amount of inventory increasing, it’s natural to think that we will continue to see price declines through to the end of the year. Lowering interest rates can help soften those declines as some buyers from the sidelines will decide it’s time to jump in.
What This Means for Sellers
- Pricing is crucial – Overpricing in a declining market can mean sitting on the market longer, leading to price reductions and weaker negotiating positions. Getting the price right from the start based on current comparables and stats will help drive urgency.
- Presentation matters – Buyers have options, and your property needs to stand out online and in person. Fresh paint, repairs, professional staging, combined with our top-tier marketing can make the difference between a showing request and a scroll-past.
- Flexibility is key – Be prepared for negotiations. Buyers now have leverage, and that may mean accepting a less ideal possession date, or a slightly lower price than you anticipated. Flexibility can help close the deal while others sit on the market. And remember, just because you don’t receive an offer over the asking price, doesn’t mean you didn’t do well – bidding wars and sales over asking are not a signal of a strong strategy, they just became commonplace in the last few years when scarcity was the name of the game!
- Patience is required – Homes may take longer to sell than they did in 2022–2024. That doesn’t mean the market is crashing, you just need to think about the hypothetical, “what if my home doesn’t sell in the first weekend?” Timelines have extended back to “normal” expectations.
What This Means for Buyers
- More choice, less pressure – With inventory rising, buyers have time to analyze the best price and possession for the right home in their ideal location.
- Negotiating power – Instead of bidding wars, buyers can now negotiate price and more favourable terms and conditions. This does not mean lowball offers or unreasonable asks. Just a little breathing room!
- Lower interest rates – With the Bank of Canada starting to lower rates, there’s potential for higher purchasing power, combined with more options!
- Long-term investment. While short-term values may continue to dip, Calgary remains one of Canada’s more affordable major markets. If you’re looking for a home for the next 5-10 years, long term trends are still positive.
As always, don’t panic! This is not to say if you’re planning to sell a condo, it will be impossible. There are always buyers out there, there are always people making moves out of necessity or lifestyle factors. it just may take a little extra elbow grease and consideration to catch their eye in a market with more options. That’s where we come in!
The earlier we connect, the better. Let’s talk about your plans, the market and the process. The more we understand about your goals, the better advice we can give.
