Calgary home prices fell in November as inventories hit low levels

By
Millicent Wong
-
0
402
Finance post top stories banner

  1. property

Monthly sales and new registrations also fell

A real estate sign A “For Sale” real estate sign outside a home in Calgary. Photo by Azin Ghaffari/Postmedia Files

In the Calgary real estate market, monthly sales, prices and new listings fell in November as the inventory of homes for sale fell to the lowest level since 2005.

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

The city’s total sales fell to 1,648 units for the month, down from 1,901 units in October and 2,108 in November last year, according to figures released Thursday by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB).

By clicking the subscribe button, you agree to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300

While the average home price, median price, and median price fell month-over-month in November, year-over-year results rose. The most significant increase came from the city’s benchmark price, which grew 8.6 percent to $520,000 from $479,200 a year ago.

“The decline in sales was primarily driven by declines in the freestanding building segment of the market,” said Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB’s chief economist, in the report. “Higher lending rates are affecting buyers’ purchasing power, and the limited choice of offerings at the lower price points of the freestanding market is likely causing many buyers to put their purchasing decisions on hold.”

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

Despite weakness in some segments, Calgary condominiums and townhouse sales continue to rise, contributing to year-over-year gains of 10 percent and 13.9 percent, respectively.

According to the board, the guide price for a condo in November was $277,000, down slightly from the previous month’s $277,800 — while the guide price for a townhome was $358,700 in November, again slightly below from 361,200 in October.

For those looking for affordable products in the single-family housing sector, homes priced under $500,000 are down more than 36 percent year-over-year, contributing to an overall decline of 34 percent across all price points.

  1. Mortgage loans for home purchases declined 5.5 percent in the second quarter, while refinancing declined 13.3 percent.

    Borrowers are turning back to fixed-rate mortgages as interest rates rise, the discount on variable shrinkage

  2. A

    Losing HSBC Canada as a competitor in the mortgage space could raise costs for everyone, say industry watchers

  3. Buildings alone were the third largest source of emissions nationally in 2020.

    Retail tenants and landlords are teaming up to cut emissions — but who foots the bill remains a big question

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

For higher-priced single-family homes, new listings skyrocketed in November, providing more balance at the top end of the market.

“We’ve improved at the top end of the market, so we’re seeing more supply, but we’re not seeing it particularly at the bottom end of the single-family home market,” Lurie told an interview. “We’re in an environment of higher interest rates, which makes it much harder for buyers who are moving up.”

Lurie says potential buyers looking to move up are choosing to “wait and see” when it comes to interest rates rather than listing their cheaper detached properties, so listings in the sector have stalled somewhat.

“Honestly, people haven’t seen rates like this in a while,” Lurie said.

• Email: [email protected]

This ad has not yet loaded, but your article continues below.

Comments

Postmedia strives to maintain a vibrant but civilized forum for discussion and encourages all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour to be moderated before they appear on the site. We ask that you keep your comments relevant and respectful. We’ve turned on email notifications – you’ll now receive an email when you get a reply to your comment, there’s an update on a comment thread you follow, or when a user you follow comments follows. For more information and details on how to customize your email settings, see our Community Guidelines.