One thing often overlooked when viewing property to buy is…
The Neighbors
When viewing homes it’s crucial to get an idea of what your neighbors are like. You don’t want the experience of falling in love with a house, purchasing, moving in and finding out your neighbors are a nightmare to deal with!
Good indicators are what their back yard and back lane look like. Is the property being well kept or piled up with junk? Do you want to live next door to a neighbor that has 3 dead cars in his back alley?
A simple knock on the door can provide invaluable information. Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself and let the neighbors know you are looking at a nearby property. Ask some questions about the neighborhood and see what they have to say.
This can help you gain a better understanding of the neighborhood dynamics and with whom you will be sharing space.
Archive for July, 2015
The Neighbors
Friday, July 31st, 2015Fair Market Value
Thursday, July 23rd, 2015
So what is this “fair market value?”
Fair market value is what a seller is willing to accept and what a buyer is willing to pay based on sales from similar properties.
Sold properties are compared based on the price they sold for, not on asking prices.
This is different from tax assessments, which are based on the last June’s data, often out of date.
Tax assessments can reveal a pattern, but not value.
It is important to get as up to date information as possible on fair market value before making a purchase.
July Monthly Update
Friday, July 3rd, 2015Stay ahead of the curve by following our Monthly Market Snapshot of the Calgary Real Estate Market. This shows what’s really happening! The market is driven by supply and demand so here we show the inventory (supply) and sales (demand) and the effect on the price of Calgary Real Estate. A simple way to keep up to date and ahead of most!
Below are the details along with a few comments, all numbers were taken from the Calgary Real Estate Boards Stats package for Realtors.
Find out what your Neighbor’s home sold for – Our market report is set up based on your community! Register for our Market Report at http://www.calgaryareasolds.com/
June showed very little change to inventory, sales or prices. Supply is tightening a little and we have moved back into a sellers market.
Calgary Listing Inventory: Inventory went down in all categories this month. This is typical for June as we approach the summer and holiday season and therefore see less listings.
|
Inventory |
May 2015 | June 2015 | Change |
| Detached | 2913 | 2760 | -163 |
| Attached | 1136 | 1114 | -22 |
| Apartment | 1293 | 1196 | -97 |
| Total City of Calgary | 5342 | 5070 |
-272 |
Calgary Sales:
Sales changed very little in all categories. The only significant category change is apartment condo’s where sales went up by 11.1%. A nice improvement as Condo sales have been slower that the other categories.
| Sales | May 2015 | June 2015 | Change | % Change |
| Detached | 1366 | 1335 | -31 | -2.2 |
| Attached | 465 | 449 | -16 | -3.4 |
| Apartment | 359 | 399 | +40 | +11.1 |
| Total City of Calgary | 2190 | 2183 | -7 | -.3 |
Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices:
Prices in all categories increased marginally this month. Based on the absorption rate below my prediction is that detached and attached homes will see small price increases while apartment condos should stay flat.
| Sales Prices | May 2015
Benchmark Price |
June 2015
Benchmark Price |
Change |
| Detached | 512,800 | 515,500 | +2,700 |
| Attached | 354,000 | 354,500 | +500 |
| Apartment | 294,800 | 293,600 | -1,200 |
| Total City of Calgary | 454,100 | 455,400 | +1,300 |
Sales Prices “Year to Date”
Year to date prices – All categories have decreased.
| Sales Prices | Dec 31, 2014 Benchmark Price | June 2015 Benchmark Price | Change
$ |
% Change |
| Detached | 518,600 | 515,500 | -3,100 | -.6 |
| Attached | 356,200 | 354,500 | -1,700 | -.5 |
| Apartment | 300,400 | 293,600 | -6,800 | -2.2 |
| Total City of Calgary | 459,500 | 455,400 | -4,100 | -.9 |
Absorption Rate (Months of Inventory) (the inventory divided by the number of sales in the last month). What does this mean you might ask?
| Buyer’s Market | >4.0 | Drives prices down |
| Balanced Market | Between 2.8 to 4.0 | Prices typically remain stable |
| Seller’s Market | <2.8 | Drives prices up |
*** Absorption Rate:
The absorption rate decreased again for all categories. What this means is that the relation to sales over inventory decreased. This puts detached homes and attached homes into a seller’s market, while apartment condos have stayed in a balanced market but are inching their way back into sellers market territory.
| Absorption Rate | May 2015 | June 2015 | Change |
| Detached | 2.13 | 2.07 | -.06 |
| Attached | 2.44 | 2.48 | -.04 |
| Apartment | 3.6 | 3.0 | -.6 |
| Total City of Calgary | 2.44 | 2.32 | -.12 |
**Please note that these numbers do change on a community basis and more so for towns. If you would like to find stats on your community just let me know. If you have any questions about this summary, the attached stats package or any Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us.