Brrr it is COLD this week! Winter weather finally landed but I'm not complaining after the phenomenal autumn that we had. As the temperature fell, so did a few other things... you guessed it - let's talk real estate. Sales activity peaked in the spring and the market has been gradually correcting itself over the last several months. Compared to the same time last year, sales pulled back almost 22% but townhome & apartment sales are driving sales growth and in 2022 so far, sales are still 10% higher than last year's record high. The shining star of property types - detached homes - drove the surge of rising prices and tight markets for the last two years. The tables have turned! Higher lending rates are affecting buyers' purchasing power + persistently low supply of homes in lower price ranges have made many buyers put their home searches on a pause. We haven't seen inventory levels this low since 2005. Despite the pullback in detached & semi-detached markets, townhomes and apartment sales continue with momentum. Total residential benchmark price in November reached $520,200 - almost 9% higher than last November. Let's chop this information into smaller pieces
DETACHED
There are still many buyers looking to purchase detached homes, but those that are looking for more affordable options under $500,000 are left with very few selections. Sales of detached homes pulled back 13% compared to October, and are 34% lower than November of last year. Aside from higher lending rates, this is also due in part to fewer listings in lower price ranges; the number of new listings in the month of November also dropped by 36%. On the other side of the half a million dollars mark, we are seeing more balanced market conditions. New listings & supply selections improved for higher-priced properties. Majority of the sales this month happened in price ranges $500,000-$1,000,000. Benchmark prices have come down to $619,700 since our peak in May. While the detached market is gradually correcting itself, prices are still 11% higher than levels reported last year.
SEMI-DETACHED
This segment saw a pullback in sales this month as well. The pullback was enough to ease 2022 sales by almost 1%. But looking at a bigger picture, YTD sales are still 37% higher than long-term averages in Calgary. Along with fewer sales, there were also fewer new listings that hit the market in November. This kept the market conditions for semi-detached homes tight, still only 2 months of supply and also explains the sales-to-new-listings ratio over 100%. Inventory levels were nearly 20% lower than in October, and 17% less than November of 2021. So even though sales growth has pulled back, the low inventory levels prevented any significant change in prices. Benchmark price pushed up a tad to $562,800, still 10% higher than the same time last year.
ROWS & TOWNS
Tight market conditions for townhomes as well! These multi-families product types have been stealing the spotlight for the last few months. There were fewer new listings in November, which probably contributed to a 22% pullback in sales - not enough properties to go around. In November, the inventory levels fells to 383 listings, this is the lowest level of November inventory since 2013. This kept the months of supply under 2 months and pushed the sales-to-new-listings ratio up passed 99%. The November benchmark price eased a smidge of 0.64% compared to October but it is nearly 14% higher than November of last year. Some parts of Calgary performed better than others; North, NE, and SE districts saw price growth of more than 18%.
APARTMENTS
Prices have remained relatively stable but sales & inventory went in opposite directions this month. The number of new listings in November fell but sales activity trended up. This pushed the sales-to-new-listings ratio up over 118% and the months of supply dropped below 2 months. This is the lowest level of inventory seen in November since 2013. The apartment market has tightened up and we saw fewer price adjustments this month so the benchmark price is once again hovering very close around the $277,000 mark. While the apartment market is tightening up & prices are almost 10% higher than in 2021, we are still well below previous highs set in 2014.It's no secret that Calgary's real estate market moves through cycles throughout the year. Post-pandemic 2022 is no different. We saw so much sales growth, so fast in the last two years. Now we are going through a time of correction. The market will move as if it has a mind of its own. It speaks, and we listen! Which part of the real estate market are you in?
Source: creb.com
