We thought February was the record holder for sales but then this month came MARCHing in and new records were set again (ha..ha.. you know because this is a March market update). Sales were not only high for this time of year but also hit all-time record highs for any given month. March totalled over 4,100 sales, about a 41% increase Y/Y. There was an influx of new listings this month to help with the sales activity. That being said, there are still way more buyers than there are homes to go around. So yes, the seller's market is here to stay and we can definitely see it in the prices. Many buyers are trying to find a home before the lending rates increase later this year. This is driving the price gains across Calgary in the last few months. It's a crazy first quarter for 2022 but the high prices & rate hikes on the horizon may weigh demand later this year. Let's see how this month wrapped up.
DETACHED
New listings are here, and not they're gone. Detached homes are still in high demand & being snatched up pretty quickly. On average, detached homes are spending 14 days on market. Again, there have been more sales than there were new listings, bringing the ratio to 104%. The market conditions are extremely tight for the buyers and it is increasingly difficult to secure a home. Benchmark price in March reached $620,500, that's more than $73,000 increase since December only three months ago. Price gains also caused a big shift in the distribution of homes; more than half of the inventory available is priced higher than $600,000.
SEMI-DETACHED
As close cousins, semi-detached properties share a similar story with detached homes. March was a record-setting month of sales because of improved new listings but market conditions are still incredibly tight. February sales were already noteworthy but March saw 347 total sales, almost a 17% increase. With the strong seller's market, the benchmark price rose to $478,400. Price gains were over 16% higher than this time last year across all districts. The 'Most Improved Player' award goes to the North district with a 22% price increase.
ROWS & TOWNS
All-time record high in sales for townhomes this month! New listings helped support a total of 709 sales. For comparison, that's 32% higher than February and 85% higher than March of 2021. The months of supply dropped below one month, putting upward pressure on the benchmark price to $335,400. Strong price growth was seen across all districts of Calgary but the NE, NW, South, and East districts still have some recovery to do before they get back to previous highs.
APARTMENTS
Some rays of sunshine for condo owners this month. This is the best quarter to start off the year on record. After a few months of tight conditions, we are finally seeing some price gains for apartments. The high sales levels outpaced new listings in March and the months of supply was the lowest on record since 2007. The recent surge in sales could be because of the supply challenges for the other property types, the return of some downtown employees, and first-time homebuyers wanting to get in before the lending rates increase. There has been some silver lining in the condominiums sector last few months but prices are still 11% below previous highs.
The real estate market ended Q1 with a bang. Will prices continue to climb? Will the upcoming lending rate increases help slow us down?
Source: creb.com
