"And with that, the 2022 season comes to an end" - how many times have you heard that audio last month? For me, so many times - and I am NOT mad about it. I love seeing how the year wrapped up for everyone. Sooo let's use that sentiment and hop into some real estate wrap ups. Historically, we almost always see sales pullback in the final month of the year. Total residential benchmark price slid to $518,800 - a 5% drop from our peak month in May, but still 12% higher than 2021. The real estate market went through a lot of changes this year and while the market pumped the brakes a bit in the second half of the year, Calgary is still performing better than pre-pandemic levels and higher than long-term trends in the city. There was a decline in sales but also a significant decline in new listings as well. This month, there were a total of 2,214 properties for sale - this is the lowest level of inventory seen in December in over a decade. So in many price ranges and property types, it is still a game of musical chairs. Time to dive in for a closer look.
DETACHED
The scale has been tipped. The detached home segment has felt the brunt of the increased lending rates last few months. There have been some more new listings that hit the market but most of them are in the higher price ranges; the market conditions for these properties are more balanced for buyers & sellers. The average sale price of detached homes in December is $639,000, with most sales falling between $500,000-$1,000,000. Supply levels for lower-priced homes are still very low relative to the demand so the scale is still favouring the sellers in those price ranges. Benchmark price slid to $619,600, just a little over 4% from the peak month in June but some parts of the city did see price growth. Price growth in Calgary's North, NE and SE districts increased by 19%, while the prices in City Centre grew by almost 8%.
SEMI-DETACHED
Sales activity for semi-detached properties has pulled back from last year's record levels. The decline in sales brought the year-to-date sales down about 3%. The benchmark price for this segment hit its boiling point in May, since then we've simmered by about 4% but on a year-over-year basis prices are still 12% higher than 2021. The number of new listings to come to the market trended down for this segment, keeping the months of supply and inventory low compared to previous years. While the market conditions have loosened up a bit for these homes, there was some pullback on price gains. December benchmark price came down a smidge from the previous month by 0.04%. However, sitting at $563,000, prices are still over 9% higher than December of 2021.
ROWS & TOWNS
While the higher lending rates have caused sales activity to slow in the first two property types, the activity for townhomes seems to be acting differently. Townhome sales in 2022 reached a record year with 5,153 units sold. Not only was it a record year, but sales were almost DOUBLE the long-term trends. This, along with a significant decline in new listings on the market caused inventory levels to fall. The high lending rates forced many buyers to shift towards more affordable property types so the demand far surpasses the inventory available on the market. For December, inventory levels were the lowest we've seen since 2013. The sales-to-new-listings ratio hit a whopping 130% this month. You guessed it - still a seller's market for townhomes.
APARTMENTS
Changing gears a bit here. Apartment sales soar above last year's level. The YTD sales rose by 50% to a record high of 6,221 units. This could be caused by a number of factors: Growth in the rental market sparking renewed investor interest + demand for more affordable properties. Like the other sectors that we talked about, new listings were not enough to meet the sales growth and inventory levels trended down to levels that we haven't seen since 2013. After the last few years of being in oversupply, apartment condominium owners are seeing a ray of sunshine. The shift to tighter market conditions pushed the benchmark price up more than 9% from 2021 to arrive at$274,800.
The 2022 chapter was definitely an interesting read. It has been a turbulent year in the real estate world and we are still trying to navigate it with as much grace as we can. The new year will bring new challenges & opportunities so let's do what we do best and roll with the punches together!
Source: creb.com
