How are we at the tail-end of the year already?? Bargain finding, sale snagging, and holiday shopping are in full swing... same goes for house hunting (not my best segue but you knew it was coming). November saw an improved number of new listings. With 2,227 units hitting the market, this month saw 40% more new listings than reported last year. However, with all the buyers in the market for a new home, inventory levels are still running slim. Across all property types, there were 1,787 recorded sales this month, keeping the sales-to-new-listings ratio high at 80%. Major Canadian cities have been seeing more new listings but the strong demand in Calgary has been quickly eating away at the new listings, keeping inventory low and pushing prices higher. The benchmark price of a Calgary home in November pushed up to $527,700 - almost 11% higher than it was in 2022. Since the start of this year, the average benchmark price has gone up by more than 5%. Which property type concerns you most? Let's dive in.
DETACHED
This sector is facing both supply and pricing challenges. We've been talking about the shortage of detached homes for a long time and the undersupply has been pushing prices higher & higher. The limited selection of more affordable detached properties has been pulling back on sales activity. The benchmark price in November pushed up to $699,500, more than 13% higher than last year. There have been some improvement in new listings this month but most of those were priced $700,000 and above. Every district in the city saw price gains on an annual basis but this year, the most significant price gains were in the city's affordable East and NE districts.
SEMI-DETACHED
Like a rhyming poem, the semi-detached sector is facing the same challenges as its close relative in the detached sector. November saw a boost in new listings but inventory is still more than 40% lower than what we typically see for the month of November. Buyers looking for a semi-detached home under $700,000 have been battling extremely tight market conditions. The S/NL ratio hovers around 77% and months of supply stayed at a low 2 months. This months' benchmark price remained stable from October, but it climbed over 12% from November 2022. Price gains were recorded across Calgary but again, the largest gains occurred in the city's East and NE districts.
ROWS & TOWNS
November gave a slither of saving grace for buyers looking for townhomes. The improvement in new listings was enough to tip the scale just a tad. While inventory levels are still half of what we normally see for the month of November, these new listings did help push the months of supply to 1.6 months—for the first time in seven months, the months of supply increased past 1 month. Market conditions are much more balanced in higher price ranges but the months of supply for townhomes under $500,000 remains below 1 month. Even though the market condition loosened up ever so slightly, the November benchmark price still crept up 1% from last year, and over 21% higher than 2022.
APARTMENTS
Apartment-style condos stepped into sellers' market territory late last year and have continued to march forward in that direction in 2023. Increased new listings were met with sales hitting record highs in November. Since the beginning of this year, there have been 7,487 record apartment sales, surpassing last year's record. This was possible thanks to new listings keeping past with the high demand for affordable products in our tight market conditions. Inventory levels are similar to what we saw in 2022, but the increased interest in this property type keeps putting upward pressure on pricing. The benchmark price in November pushed up 1% from the previous month, and almost 18% up from November of last year.
Source: creb.com
