The kids are out of school, the smoke is rolling in from BC. It must be July! Sales growth has slowed down over the last few months and we are seeing more & more balance between sellers and buyers. There were fewer sales this month but also fewer new listings to offset the existing undersupply from earlier this year. July sales levels were still far beyond long-term averages but there are huge differences between property types. Let's break it down!
DETACHED
July saw slower sales for detached homes compared to previous months this year but in the grand scheme of things, sales levels are still much higher than last year - almost 21% higher than same time last year. Obviously, being in the first few months of a global pandemic last year contributed to this gap but no one would have guessed the the real estate market would bounce back so fast. If we take this segment and break it down into price ranges, homes under $500,000 are still facing tight market conditions. Geographically, properties in the City Centre district are still reporting prices under the 2014 highs; the rest of Calgary is experiencing upward pressure on price.
SEMI-DETACHED
The market in this segment is still trending upwards - just not as rapidly as we saw in the first half of 2021. Benchmark price rose 0.33%, ever so slightly from last month. Compared to June, total sales dropped almost 14%. This helped bring the months of supply up to almost 3 months, which is much better than the extremely tight market conditions we were seeing earlier this year (phew - some relief for buyers). The upwards pressure on pricing in semi-detached homes across Calgary helped push the segments towards recovery but City Centre, NE, South, and East districts still have a way to go before recovering to previous highs.
ROWS & TOWNS
Even though this property type is still well below previous highs, all market indicators are moving in the direction of recovery. Sales are slowing down but so are new listings. Total sales to new listings ratio remain very similar at about 69% for the month of July. Prices have improved across the city compared to last year. Price gains vary across the board though. There were modest price gains as low as 6% in the NW, to 20% gains in the East district.
APARTMENTS
This segment has been in a world of its own for the last 6 years. There are some slight signs of recovery but it is still very far from previous highs. The oversupply of inventory trended down in July but sales also slowed this month. This month saw total sales of 346 and while that is a decrease from the previous month, it is still over 31% high than July 2020 sales levels.
The pace of the race has fallen back a bit as the horses are slowing down. This year is still a strong year of recovery and has been a pleasant surprise for many sellers following a global pandemic. Now that we are in the second half of 2021, there seem to be some more balanced conditions. Buyers can finally let out a small sigh of relief.
Source: creb.com
