Stay ahead of everyone else 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 most importantly the relationship between the two and how it affects the price of Calgary Real Estate. A simple way to keep up to date and ahead of most! All numbers are taken from the Calgary Real Estate Boards Stats package for Realtors.
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 | 1. Drives prices down |
| Balanced Market | Between 2.8 to 4.0 | 2. Prices typically remain stable |
| Seller’s Market | <2.8 | 3. Drives prices up |
*** Absorption Rate***
In my opinion this is the most critical number to look at. This is now the second month in a row where the absorption rates have lowered. The market has changed and Detached homes are now well into a balanced market. This should reflect in no more price decreases. Both Attached homes and apartment condos are still in a buyers market position but have moved substantially closer to a balanced market position.
| Feb 2015 | Mar 2016 | Change | |
| Detached | 4.26 | 3.06 | -1.20 |
| Attached | 4.99 | 4.52 | -0.47 |
| Apartment | 8.35 | 5.97 | -2.38 |
| Total City of Calgary | 5.04 | 3.83 | -1.21 |
Calgary Listing Inventory
In March our total inventory of listings in Calgary increased in all 3 categories. This is very typical for this time of year as many sellers wait until the spring market and this year spring is arriving early. This seasonal trend should continue for the next few months.
| Inventory | Feb 2016 | March 2016 | Change |
| Detached | 2943 | 3077 | 134 |
| Attached | 1336 | 1473 | 137 |
| Apartment | 1402 | 1534 | 132 |
| Total City of Calgary | 5681 | 6084 | 403 |
Calgary Sales:
Sales in all categories Increased in February and all by a substantial amount. It is normal for the season that sales increase but this is a lot more than just a seasonal adjustment. Not sure everything behind it but it seems a lot of people who have been sitting on the fence are now out buying.
| Sales | Feb 2016 | March 2016 | Change | % of Change |
| Detached | 691 | 1005 | 314 | 45.44% |
| Attached | 268 | 326 | 58 | 21.64% |
| Apartment | 168 | 257 | 89 | 52.98% |
| Total City of Calgary | 1127 | 1588 | 461 | 40.91% |
Calgary Real Estate Sales Prices:
Prices for all categories decreased marginally this month. Being that we were in a Buyers market for most of the month this makes sense to me. Moving forward I predict detached homes to remain flat and attached and apartment condos to continue to decrease slightly.
| Sales Prices | Jan 2015Benchmark Price | Feb 2016Benchmark Price | Change |
| Detached | 504400 | 502400 | -2000 |
| Attached | 338900 | 336500 | -2400 |
| Apartment | 283600 | 281300 | -2300 |
| Total City of Calgary | 445000 | 442800 | -2200 |
Sales Prices “Year to Date”
Year to date prices
| Sales Prices | Dec 31, 2015 Benchmark Price | Feb 2016Benchmark Price | Change$ | % Change |
| Detached | 508700 | 502400 | -6300 | -1.24% |
| Attached | 351400 | 336500 | -14900 | -4.24% |
| Apartment | 285500 | 281,300 | -4,200 | -1.47% |
| Total City of Calgary | 448800 | 442800 | -6000 | -1.34% |
Price Sensitivity
It is also important to note that homes in the lower price ranges are still moving much quicker than homes in the higher price ranges.
**Please note that these numbers do change on a community basis and more so for towns. This report does not include rural properties. If you would like to find stats on your community just let me know. If you have any questions about this summary or Real Estate questions please feel free to contact us.
TSW Real Estate Group
Gord Piper & Brent Wilcox