The year started off on a very strong note in sales! There were a few more listings to go around after the holiday season wrapped up but still not nearly enough homes for all the buyers in the market. Both buyers & sellers hit the ground running and were ready to take on the new year. A lot of people are eager to get into their new homes before the anticipated lending rate hike coming around the corner. The sales-to-new-listing ratio for this month hit 81% - which is much higher than levels that we normally see this time of year. Which homes are pushing the sales up this month? Let's take a look-see!
DETACHED
The property type remains in the spotlight after a solid 2021. Did you hear about that detached home in Arbour Lake that sold for $130,000 MORE than the asking price? Yeah - talk of the town a couple of weeks ago. Unfortunately for buyers, that's the kind of market they're shopping in if they are looking for a detached home right now. Not all of them are selling at that high of a differential but it has almost become "normal" to have 8+ groups of buyers all competing for the same property. There were more homes on the market after the holidays but like we've heard in previous months, it was not enough to catch up with the new & existing demand. We rang in the new year with record low inventory levels of less than 895 units. These incredibly tight market conditions cause the benchmark price to go up $12,000 compared to December - the benchmark price for a detached home in Calgary is now $559,800 compared to $492,000 in January 2021.
SEMI-DETACHED
This property type is the close cousin of detached homes, and is experiencing similar market conditions. January saw increased new listings but sales level also increased with it so inventory is still quite low, about 46% lower than long-term trends. There were over 42% more sales compared to same time last year. Since there are not enough listings to go around for all the bueyrs that are house-hunting this month the tight market conditions pushed the benchmark price up 1.73% from December. Prices trended upwards all across the city but monthly gains were not as drastic in Calgary's North, West, and City Centre districts compared to the rest of the city.
ROWS & TOWNS
The first two property types tend to take the spotlight in real estate news. But townhomes need some love too! The market condition for townhomes have been tight in the ladder part of 2021 and its momentum is continuing on into this year. Sales rose to 305 units - that's 103% higher than January of last year! The market continued to swing towards the sellers this month and pushed the benchmark price up to $305,600. Buyers caught a tiny bit of a break compared to the last few months but supply levels are still significantly lower than long-term trends.
APARTMENT
Compared to detached properties, apartments would be like the far distant cousin, twice removed. Prices have stayed pretty much the same compared to last month because apartments are not facing the same supply challenges as the other property types. That being said, after many years of being in a long buyer's market, it seems that the oversupply has eased. Months of supply has come down to & stayed at the 3 month mark - finally, a balanced market. This January brought in 357 sales which are the highest sales levels seen in the month of January since 2007! Compared to even 12 months ago, total sales were up 94%.
Source: creb.com
