A"MAY"ZING MONTH!

Condo resale market climbs in May
By Josh Skapin
Calgary Herald, June 8, 2012

Calgary’s condo resale activity climbed 35 per cent in May, compared to the same time last year, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

In fact, there were 675 apartment or townhouse sales last month after only 500 condo units changed hands in May 2011.

The average resale price for condo apartments last month was $280,030. For townhouses, the average price was $330,446.

High-end condo sales are also on the upswing in the city.

After the first five months of 2012, 10 townhouses priced from $900,000 were sold in the city — only three units in that price range changed hands during the same period in 2011.

For condo apartments, eight units have sold for at least $900,000 so far in 2012, compared to five units last year.

Zone C, which roughly covers southwest Calgary, paced the city in condo sales last month with 385. The zone also saw the highest average resale price at $322,204. It also paced the city in inventory with 1,016 available units.

Located in Zone C, Connaught topped all Calgary communities in May with 49 units sold. Also in Zone C, Springbank Hill had the highest average price at $571,200.

A distant second to Zone C’s sales totals in May was Zone A, which roughly corresponds to northwest Calgary. It saw 189 sales at an average resale value of $295,682.

Zone D, which roughly covers southeast Calgary was third in sales totals last month with 69 at an average resale value of $263,609.

The slowest area of the city for condo sales was Zone B, which roughly covers northeast Calgary. It had 32 sales at an average price of $170,893. The community with the lowest average price in the city was Forest Lawn at $88,000.

READING THE SIGNS

Alberta housing market most affordable in Canada: RBC
Resale activity picking up in Calgary
By Mario Toneguzzi
Calgary Herald May 29, 2012

CALGARY — Housing market activity in Alberta is showing increasing signs of strength as it benefits from attractive affordability and nation-leading economic growth, according to the latest Housing Trends and Affordability Report released Tuesday by RBC Economics.

RBC’s housing affordability measures for Alberta, which capture the province’s proportion of pre-tax household income needed to service the costs of owning a home at market value, remained among the lowest, if not the lowest, in the country in the first quarter of this year.

And RBC said the “long-awaited resurgence” of the Calgary-housing market appears to have been launched in recent months as home resales advanced by a “sizable” 7.4 per cent in the first quarter relative to the fourth quarter of last year, and April activity showed even greater strength.

In fact, Calgary bucked the national trend and showed improved affordability in the first quarter.

“Homebuyers in the Calgary area are motivated by a booming provincial economy, strong job creation, and attractive housing affordability,” said the report. “Despite higher resales lately, home prices so far have remained flat for the most part, with some weakness observed in condominium apartments. This has kept housing affordability in check at some of the better levels among Canada’s largest cities.”

It said affordability improved modestly in the first quarter in Calgary. RBC housing affordability measures show the proportion of median pre-tax household income that would be required to service the cost of a mortgage payment. RBC said that in Calgary measures compared with a year ago edged lower for condominium apartments (0.4 per cent) and two-storey homes (0.3 per cent), and stayed unchanged for detached bungalows.

“We expect the market resurgence to continue for the remainder of this year,” it said.

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, MLS sales in Calgary so far this month from May 1-28 are up 27.90 per cent from the same period a year ago with 2,104 transactions and the average residential sale price in the city has increased by 3.03 per cent to $445,120.

Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB’s chief economist, said the city has experienced positive economic growth with the expansion in jobs, full-time jobs in particular.

“And this really has encouraged some demand into housing. We’ve had low interest rates . . . We’ve had a signficantly strong spring season compared to other years,” she said. “It’s also important to note that we’ve been pretty slow to recover in the first place. So there was a lot of hesitation out there.

“But as things have started to improve in the economy, people are starting to re-invest.”

Lurie said she doesn’t expect to see any change in the demand for housing in the city in the near future.

Robert Hogue, senior economist with RBC, said attractive affordability and a strong provincial economy are playing significant roles in driving Alberta’s home resale activity, up 11.5 per cent year-over-year in the first quarter and showing no sign of easing in April.

“We expect that, going forward, Alberta’s housing market will remain on this bright path, particularly as the province continues to lead the country in economic growth,” he said.

The measure for benchmark detached bungalows in Alberta rose by 0.1 percentage points to 32.2 per cent, while the measure for condominium apartments marked a small improvement, decreasing 0.3 percentage points to 20.2 per cent. The two-storey home category was the only measure that remained unchanged at 35.3 per cent.

RBC’s housing affordability measure for the benchmark detached bungalow in Canada’s largest cities is as follows: Vancouver 88.9 per cent (up 3.1 percentage points from the previous quarter), Toronto 53.4 per cent (up 1.2 percentage points), Ottawa 41.8 per cent (up 0.9 percentage points), Montreal 41.4 per cent (up 1.2 percentage points), Calgary 36.7 per cent (unchanged) and Edmonton 32.4 per cent (down 0.4 percentage points).

The following are average prices in the first quarter of this year, affordability measure, and year-over-year change in the affordability measure:

Detached Bungalow

Canada, $360,500, 43.1 per cent, 1.5 per cent.

Alberta, $347,900, 32.2 per cent, 0.1 per cent.

Calgary, $423,000, 36.7 per cent, 0.2 per cent.

Standard Two-Storey

Canada, $403,600, 48.7 per cent, 1.2 per cent.

Alberta, $372,800, 35.3 per cent, 0.2 per cent.

Calgary, $418,200, 37.5 per cent, 0.1 per cent.

Standard Condominium

Canada, $235,800, 28.8 per cent, 0.3 per cent.

Alberta, $212,300, 20.2 per cent, — 0.6 per cent.

Calgary, $248,100, 22.2 per cent, — 0.4 per cent.

Photo By: woody1778a

NORTHWEST ON TOP

Resale pace soars in Calgary
Northwest leads city in terms of sales
By Josh Skapin
Calgary Herald March 10, 2012

Sales of single-family resale homes climbed 11 per cent in February compared to the same month last year, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

The city saw 1,284 single-family homes change hands last month, up from 1,169 last year, says the board.

The largest increase came in homes priced $500,000 to $549,000, with sales in this range soaring from 65 in February 2011 to 106 last month.

Zone A - which roughly consists of northwest Calgary - led the city in sales last month, with 465 homes changing hands.

The zone also led the city in resale activity in January, but with only 271 transactions.

Tuscany led Zone A with 40 sales of single-family homes in February at an average price of $504,347.

At 1,128 homes, Zone A also led the way in inventory last month.

Calgary's slowest resale activity last month was in Zone B - which roughly corresponds to northeast Calgary - which finished the month with only 164 sales.

At $293,714, Zone B also finished with the lowest average single-family resale price.

The lowest average resale price in the zone was $195,333 in Dover, which ended the month with three sales.

At $589.106, Zone C - which roughly covers southwest Calgary - had the highest average single-family resale price among the four zones.

Within Zone C, Bel Aire had the highest average resale price at $ 2.1 million for one sale.

Zone D, which roughly consists of southeast Calgary, was third in average resale price at $422,582.

RLP PREDICTS RISE IN 2012

Expect home prices to keep rising in 2012: Royal LePage
By Derek Abma
National Post Jan 12, 2012

OTTAWA — Canada’s housing market will continue to be strong this year, with rising property values expected in all major markets, real estate brokerage firm Royal LePage said Thursday.

The company’s forecast called for prices across to country to rise 2.8% by the end of 2012, after stronger gains last year.

It said in the fourth quarter of 2011, the average price of a standard two-storey home was $375,427, up 4.2% from a year earlier. The average rate of a detached bungalow was up 6.1% to $344,392, while condominiums gained 3.6% to $234,680.

“Widespread calls for a major real estate correction in 2012 simply can’t be justified,” Royal LePage CEOPhil Soper said in a statement. “The industry has significant momentum entering the year, and buoyed by the stimulative effect of very low interest rates, we expect the market to continue to expand — albeit at a slower pace.”

Statistics Canada reported Thursday that its new housing price index rose 0.3% in November, following on a 0.2% increase in October, and was up 2.5% year-over-year.

Price increases in Toronto, Oshawa and Montreal offset declines in Calgary, Vancouver and the Ontario metropolitan regions of Sudbury and Thunder Bay, the agency said. Builders in all four areas reported lowering prices in order to stimulate sales and remain competitive, while price increases elsewhere were attributed to higher material and labour costs.

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has forecast the average price of a listed homes for resale to be $363,900 this year, up 1.2% from 2011. The Canadian Real Estate Association predicted that the average price would be relatively flat at $362,700. Both forecasts were made in November.

Royal LePage said even pricey housing markets in Vancouver and Toronto — where standard two-storey homes averaged $1.1-million and $629,188, respectively, in the last quarter — will see continued price appreciation in 2012.

However, it said stronger gains will be seen in cities benefiting from commodity-based economies, such as Calgary, Regina and Winnipeg, where price gains will be in the range of four to five per cent.

Photo by: Nkuku Fairtrade

CLIMBING HIGHER!

Canadian house resale prices climb higher
By Eric Lam
Financial Post · Dec. 15, 2011

Canada’s housing market is still chugging along steadily as sales activity nudged higher and prices continued to climb in November, data from the Canadian Real Estate Association said Thursday.


Sales activity rose a seasonally adjusted 0.5% in November, compared with the month before, as about 35,000 houses changed hands.

The national average price increased 4.6%, but that is the smallest increase since January.

Year-to-date sales remained in line with 10-year averages as 432,048 homes have been resold so far in 2011, up 2.1% from year-ago levels.

The sector is showing some signs of slowing down, however, as the number of newly listed homes declined 3.4% between October and November.

That said, actual national home sales figures (not seasonally adjusted) in November actually moved 7% above the 10-year average, the fourth-highest level on record for the month.

“National sales activity picked up late last year, and November’s results suggest that a similar trend may be playing out again this year,” Gregory Klump, chief economist with CREA, said in a release.

Interest rates are expected to remain low for the foreseeable future, so the housing sector will be closely watched for signs of excess, he said.

“That said, current trends for resale housing and new home construction suggest that tightened mortgage regulations are working as intended and fostering economic stability,” he said.

Photo By: Travis Atwood

RESALE NEWS

Calgary sees more home resales as average price drops
By Mario Toneguzzi
Calgary Herald  November 30, 2011

Calgary's resale housing sales grew in October, but the average price dipped, according to the Conference Board of Canada.

In a report published Tuesday, the board said the seasonally adjusted annualized rate of sales in Calgary was 22,572 during the month, up from 22,344 in September and an increase from 19,524 in October 2010.

But the average price fell in October to $402,561 from $408,466 in September. A year ago it was $396,041.

As for new listings, the annualized rate in October decreased to 43,656 from 44,664 the previous month, but up from 42,960 in October 2010.

In October, the sales-to-new listings ratio in Calgary was 0.512. It was 0.471 in September and 0.455 a year ago. The conference board said Calgary can expect short-term year-over-year annual price growth of between five and seven per cent.

According to the latest Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. market outlook report, MLS sales in the Calgary region are forecast to increase by 2.3 per cent in 2012 to 22,700, while new listings are expected to decrease by 1.1. per cent to 43,700. The average MLS sales price is forecast to jump by 2.2 per cent in 2012 to $411,000 in the Calgary census metropolitan area.

The CMHC housing market outlook says despite many positive factors for real estate, "competing factors such as uncertainty in the global economy has kept some prospective buyers on the fence and will continue to temper any large increases in sales."

Photo By: Where To Willie

A BRIGHT SPOT!

Resale home sales seen as bright spot
Garry Marr, Financial Post 
October 18, 2011

Existing home prices in Canada continued to increase last month, although the gains recorded were the smallest since January.

The Canadian Real Estate Association said the average price of a home sold in September was $352,581, a 6.5% jump from a year earlier.

The continued strength of the market in the face of a battered world economy was on display last month as sales rebounded from August, increasing by 2.7% on a seasonally adjusted basis. For the first three quarters of the year, existing home sales are now 1.2% ahead of last year's pace.

The Ottawa-based group, which represents about 100 boards across the country, said new listings have been flat for two months and markets have tightened but all signs indicate most jurisdictions are still in balanced territory.

The group says nationally the sales-to-new-listings ratio was 52.8% in September, up from 51.6% in August. CREA says almost two-thirds of Canadian markets have a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 40% to 60%, which is considered balanced.

"The Canadian housing market remains a bright spot against a backdrop of mixed headline news about the global economy," said Gary Morse, CREA president. "Low mortgage rates continue to draw buyers to the housing market, while recently tightened mortgage regulations are working as intended."

Adrienne Warren, an economist with Bank of Nova Scotia, noted that even as Canadians spend less on retail purchases, those low interest rates are enticing home buyers.

"Continuing uncertainty over the global economic outlook and highly volatile financial markets have yet to contribute to any notable slowing in Canada's housing market," says Ms. Warren.

Last month's numbers were boosted by a strong contribution from the country's largest market. Toronto average sales prices rose 8.9% last month from a year ago to $465,369 while sales activity was up 21.3% during the same period.

"It's pretty clear Toronto is the star of the national real estate scene at least in this act," said Phil Soper, chief executive of Royal LePage Real Estate Services. "The reality is while the world may be on shaky economic footing and there are scenarios where it would cause hardship to business in Toronto, the current reality is we got jobs back from the recession quickly and there has been some slight upward pressure on income and salaries."

The market also appears to finally have adjusted to new mortgage rules. The latest round of changes saw amortization periods lowered to 30 years from 35 years, reduced refinancing limits to 85% of a home's value from 90% and removed government insurance on homeequity lines of credit.

Mr. Soper said those moves, combined with rule changes in 2010 that forced condominium investors to have a minimum 20% down payment, had slowed down the market. "What we didn't want to see was speculative house flippers and that's been tightened up," he said.

Gregory K lump, chief economist for CREA, noted housing has remained stable in face of market volatility, which has contributed to Canadian confidence in the economy.

"Interest rates are expected to remain low for longer, and evidence suggests that recent changes to mortgage regulations are preventing the kind of excesses they were designed to avert. Both of these developments are good news for the housing market," he said.

Photo By: Fiona Katherine

GOTTEN GAINS

Condo market gains strength
By Kathy McCormick, Calgary Herald
August 6, 2011

The story of the resale condo market in Calgary is positive, albeit fragile, say some of the city's realtors.

For the first time since April 2010, sales of resale condos have gone up year-overyear - and in terms of new condos, several inner-city highrise projects that were in limbo have been brought back to the market.

For April 1 to the end of June, sales of resale condos reached 1,617 within the city.

The Calgary Real Estate Board's Zone C - which roughly corresponds to the city's southwest and includes the Beltline - posted the most sales from April 1 to the end of June at 881.

Not surprisingly, the busiest communities during that period were in the innercity neighbourhoods of Connaught with 95 sales and Victoria Park with 50 sales.

"Condo sales bounced back this month (in July) and we now have less than four months of supply on the market," says Sano Stante, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board. "Stronger condo sales, combined with a decline in inventory, will lend more balance to this market in the months to come."

The key, though, is prices, says Marlene Swinton of Real Estate Professionals Inc.

"Buyers today are extremely nervous and a lot of them come in well below list price," she says.

"A lot of sellers, on the other hand, haven't recognized that prices have changed. They don't want to hear that the marvellous prices they heard they could get for their place once isn't there anymore."

That resonates with Chris Zaharko of Royal LePage Foothills. "My gut feeling is that people are only in the position to buy and pursue it if they think it's the absolute bottom line."

Prices during the second quarter of the year averaged anywhere from $77,600 for five sales in Forest Lawn in the board's Zone B - which roughly corresponds to northeast Calgary - to $850,000 for one sale in Bayview in Zone C.

But overall, affordability was key. A total of 30 communities within Calgary had average sale prices under $200,000 - with more buyers purchasing condos under that price range this year compared to last year during the same period.

"Buyers in this market expect value and many are taking advantage of some affordable buys in both the single-family and condo markets," says Stante.

He expects this fall to be more active. "I think as the inventory is absorbed, more particularly in condos, the shift will be to sellers and there will be slight increases in price."

Swinton, who has a condo apartment building of 11 units among her portfolio of properties for sale, says she had three calls for showings for that development on the last weekend of Stampede - traditionally a very slow time for real estate transactions.

"It was priced well and a good product, but still, that is investors looking to buy, so that's positive."

Zaharko, too, points to the new condo market where several highrise developers are starting marketing or re-starting projects that had been on hold during the downturn in the inner city.

"The big developers are coming back to the table," he says.

"They've got their pulse on the market, and see what the oil and gas industry will be doing in the next couple of years. The timing is right to start now."

Typically, a highrise project can take two years or more for construction to be complete.

Zone C, which is mostly southwest Calgary and the inner-city neighbourhoods in the Beltline, was not surprisingly the most active for resale condos in the second quarter.

It also had the highest average price and highest median price at $317,301 and $285,000 respectively. The median price is the mid-point of all sales.

Overall, most condos took an average of 54.5 days to sell - but if it's the right product at the right price in the right location, it will sell quickly.

A $835,000 condo in Eagle Ridge in Zone C, for example, sold in just nine days during that period; another condo in Citadel in Zone A went for $440,000 in just four days.

THOSE ARE RESULTS

Resale Flexes Muscles
By Marty Hope
Calgary Herald June 11, 2011

May was a relatively strong month for resale residential activity in smaller centres surrounding the city, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

There were 395 sales in May, an increase of nearly 17 per cent from the 338 for the same month last year, it says.

But from January to Mary, 2,386 homes changed hands, down from the 2,676 deals for the same period in 2010.

In terms of average price, both the May and the five-month averages trail year-ago figures.

Last month, the average was $343,071, down from $363,231 a year ago -while the five-month figures are $348,840 and $358,879 respectively, says the board.

HIGH-END HEALTH

High-end resale sign of health
By Marty Hope
Calgary Herald May 27, 2011

Overall, Calgary’s housing markets have been struggling to regain ground lost to the economic downturn — and it’s been a tough fight.

The resale industry found itself saddled with a huge inventory when consumers turned fickle and decided the housebuying binge of the early part of this decade was ending.

They went into hibernation and are now gradually coming back into the market.

The economic fundamentals — job creation, migration and salaries — are improving and in general, so is the housing outlook.

A look at one specific segment of the resale sector is proof the economy is coming back.

A few years back, I had a chat with a realtor who told me that as long as the high end of the resale market was active, the economy was in good shape.

People buying in those price categories wouldn’t be spending that kind of money if they had any notion the economy was in trouble.

If figures from the Calgary Real Estate Board are any indication, everything is humming along.

For the first four months of this year, 437 resale properties priced at $700,000 or more changed hands compared with 368 for the same period last year — and were selling faster.

On the heels of these impressive numbers came a report from Re/Max regarding activity at the upper end of housing markets in 12 major centres in Canada.

The report says that improved financial standing among people with high net worth is the major factor driving strong resale activity at the top end of Canadian housing markets.

It found that luxury home sales surged in nearly two-thirds of housing markets from January to April compared to the same period in 2010.

In terms of percentage gain, the largest growth occurred in Greater Vancouver at 118 per cent, followed by Ottawa at 59 per cent and Calgary at 51 per cent.

Greater Toronto was well down the list at nine per cent.

On the new homes front, Calgary builders continue to cater to a growing number of buyers looking for large homes in inner-city communities, estate neighbourhoods in the suburbs, and acreages in rural areas surrounding the city.

“The upper end of the market is vibrant,” says Jim Quinn, president of QuinnCorp Holdings Inc., which is developing Aspen Estates on the west side of the city.

“Calgary has a deep pool of wealth. It’s quiet, reserved and subtle, but it’s there.”

PRICE IS RIGHT

The pace of the resale market is growing for homes with larger price tags, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

“We are seeing improvements in the sale of homes in the higher price points,” says board president Sano Stante.

“Homes above $700,000 are selling within an average of 41 days. This is consistent with pre-recession levels.”

BALANCE BEAMS

Calgary house prices expected to increase
Local market classified as balanced
By Mario Toneguzzi
Calgary Herald March 23, 2011

CALGARY — Short-term year-over-year price growth is expected to be in the five to seven per cent range for Calgary, according to the Conference Board of Canada.

In releasing its monthly Metro Resale Index on Wednesday, the board said Calgary’s real estate market is currently classified as being under balanced conditions.

In February, the average residential resale price rose to $406,216, up from $401,743 the previous month and $394,850 in February 2010.

The board also said that sales, on a seasonally-adjusted annual basis, were up by 6.1 per cent in Calgary to 23,784 following a 2.2 per cent hike in January to 22,416. But that is still down from 23,820 in February 2010.

“It’s a reasonably balanced market. That’s what we’re seeing,” saids Robin Wiebe, senior economist with the board. “Sales are on the upswing. They rose six per cent in February from January and that builds on a two per cent growth the month before. And that’s starting to eat away at the stock of listings.

“Sales are bouncing back from a bit of a tough spot later in 2010. They’re coming back . . . There seems to be a little bit of momentum building in the Calgary market which is why we are forecasting a decent price outlook.”

The sales to new listings ratio in Calgary increased to 0.558 from 0.547 in January and 0.531 in February 2010.

The board also said that new listings were 46,812 in February on a seasonally-adjusted annual basis compared with 44,748 the previous month and 48,576 a year ago.

“Over the last couple of months, we’ve definitely seen sales pick up,” said Dan Sumner, economist with ATB Financial in Calgary. “I still think all in all sales aren’t really strong. We are seeing kind of a recovery from really low levels.

“In Calgary, it’s been stronger than other areas of the province. The Calgary resale market has been better than most of the rest of Alberta but it’s still nothing to get too excited about.”

Sumner said preliminary data indicates that March “has not been a blockbuster month” for MLS sales in the city.

In its Metro Resale Index, the board classified Saskatoon, Gatineau, Montreal, Quebec, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivieres and Saguenay as having short-term price growth expectations in the seven per cent and higher range.

Victoria, Vancouver, Fraser Valley, Edmonton, Regina, Winnipeg, Halifax and Newfoundland joined Calgary in the five to seven per cent range followed by Thunder Bay, Sudbury, Hamilton, St. Catharines, Kitchener, Kingston, Ottawa, and Saint John in the three to five per cent range.

Toronto, Oshawa, London and Windsor can expect short-term year-over-year price growth of zero to three per cent.

RESALE PACE TO CLIMB

Resale home pace expected to climb
By Marty Hope, Calgary Herald
October 16, 2010

With a struggling economy and housing sector, anything the least bit positive is a good thing.

So it has been for the past couple of weeks -- a scrap of good news here and there.

Statistics Canada was first out of the chute with news that the Calgary area's unemployment rate for September declined to 6.6 per cent -- down from 6.7 per cent in August and declining even further from the 6.9 per cent in September 2009.

That being said, there were 1,400 fewer jobs created last month compared with August 2010.

But since the first of the year, job creation is still ahead of 2009, says Statistics Canada.

Job creation is good news for the new and resale housing sectors for obvious reasons.

The Calgary Real Estate Board has also chipped in with its good news.

In its latest activity report, the board reported sales of both detached single-family homes and multi-family condos climbed in September compared to August.

In terms of detached homes, 958 changed hands, up from 867 in August.

As for condos, the September sales total was 366, two more than were sold in August.

But compared to the same month last year, sales numbers for September were off.

CREB president Diane Scott took the positive road in her September summary, saying fall sales "should improve slightly" to reflect the latest Statistics Canada report.

"There are signs that September may mark a gradual, if not slight, uptick for Calgary's housing market," she says. "We are seeing a modest improvement since the market's decline that started in April of this year."

In the earlier part of the year, home-buyers -- first-timers for the most part -- decided to move up their purchase dates to beat expected hikes in interest rates and changes to mortgage rules.

When both these factors came into play, people who hadn't bought stepped back from the market, taking a wait-and-see attitude.

There were also those who continued to be concerned about the strength -- or lack of strength -- in the economy.

Here again was a bit of good news. Mortgage rates have not moved dramatically and the average price of used homes is holding fairly steady.

"The Bank of Canada is in no hurry to raise interest rates to any significant level and affordability continues to improve in key segments of the Calgary housing market," says Scott. "These factors, along with great selection, have clearly tipped this market in favour of the buyer."

The average price of detached single-family homes in September within Calgary was $460,278, up three per cent from August but almost unchanged from $459,085 in the same month last year.

The average selling price for condos inside Calgary was $284,028 last month -- down one per cent from August and two per cent from September 2009.

While the market, itself, appears to be undergoing a slight change, the makeup of the buyer is also getting a facelift.

"Clearly, there is a shift in the types of buyers entering the market," says Scott.

"It was first-time buyers who drove the late market recovery last fall and this spring.

"While lower-priced home sales have declined, sales over $1 million have actually increased by two per cent this year compared with the same period last year."
- - -
MILLION SALES UP

For the first nine months of this year, million-dollar-plus sales of used homes totalled 286, up from 229 during the same period last year, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

But the highest volume of sales of detached single-family resale homes are occurring in Calgary in homes priced between $300,000 and $399,999.

They amount to nearly 38 per cent, a slight improvement over 2009. Meanwhile, the vast majority of condo sales -- more than 47 per cent -- were priced from $200,000 to $299,999.

A year ago, this category accounted for nearly 51 per cent of all condominium sales. "While consumer confidence has strengthened and the unemployment picture has improved, economic jitters will continue to impact Calgary's housing market," says president Diane Scott of CREB. "More and more home buyers will eventually return to the marketplace, but for the moment, they remain moderately cautious."

Photo By: Dave van Hulsteyn

2 MONTHS OF A CHILL

Home resales cool for second straight month
Reuters
Published: Monday, March 15, 2010

TORONTO -- Sales of existing homes in Canada dipped for a second straight month in February, but remained high on a year-over-year basis, as the market may be moving into more balanced conditions, data showed on Monday.

The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) said a total of 42,799 homes changed hands last month, down 1.5% from January, as a large gain in sales in Toronto were offset by declines in Vancouver and other British Columbia housing markets.

The real estate group said the Winter Olympics, which were held in the host city of Vancouver and nearby areas, may have played a factor in lower sales in the province last month.

Unit sales in British Columbia were down 13.3% in February from January, compared with a 3.3% advance in Ontario.

Across Canada, sales rose 44% from the same month last year, a smaller gain in national activity from the previous three months. This was in line with economists' views that year-over-year comparisons are likely to shrink in coming months because the recovery of the housing market started in February 2009.

"Housing markets are becoming more balanced," said Gregory Klump," CREA's chief economist.

After a relatively short spell of low consumer confidence during the global financial crisis, Canadian homebuyers were quickly back in the market and have made the housing sector one of the cornerstones of the domestic economic recovery. The pace of the rebound has encouraged debate about a housing bubble.

But with rising supply -- new listings rose for a fifth straight month, up 2.4% -- it could take the steam out of the housing markets as the year goes on, said Mr. Klump.

Ultralow interest rates could further prompt home resales this spring before the arrival of new mortgage rules in April and changes to provincial sales tax regimes in British Columbia and Ontario, before cooling in the second half of the year.

"We should see the Canadian housing market move slowly back into a balanced-market position as higher mortgage rates and prices begin to temper demand," said Millan Mulraine, economics strategist at TD Securities.

CREA said the national average home price in February rose 18.2% from a year earlier to $335,655 (US$329,074)

Photo By: cjhart10

RESALE NUMBERS

Canadian resale housing market up 58% from year-ago levels
By Mario Toneguzzi
Calgary Herald
February 17, 2010

CALGARY - National activity in the resale housing market declined in January from the previous month but was up 58 per cent from year-ago levels, when national home sales activity reached the lowest level in a decade.

In releasing its January MLS data on Wednesday, the Canadian Real Estate Association said the average price of all homes sold through the MLS systems of Canadian real estate boards last month was $328,537, which was up 19.6 per cent from a year ago.

"In January 2009, the average residential sale price fell to the lowest level in almost three years," said the association which represents more than 96,000 realtors working through more than 100 real estate boards and associations.

"Year-over-year average price gains are being stretched by weakness one year ago, and are expected to shrink beginning next month."

In Calgary, MLS sales in January increased by 52.5 per cent from last year to 1,466 units for an average sale price of $397,518, up by 5.8 per cent. New listings fell by 6.7 per cent to 3,919 units and dollar volume jumped by 61.4 per cent to $582.8 million.

MLS sales in Alberta were up by 34.6 per cent from a year ago to 2,934 units. The average sale price increased by 6.4 per cent to $343,264. New listings dropped by 2.4 per cent to 8,162 units and the total dollar volume for the month of January was up by 43.2 per cent from a year ago to just over $1 billion.

Nationally, new listings were up by 3.4 per cent to 64,561 units and the total dollar volume increased by 89.3 per cent to $8.4 billion.

"January results suggest that the national resale housing market may be past the recent peak," said Gregory Klump, CREA's chief economist. "One car doesn't make a parade, so a few more months of results showing a cooling trend will be required before talk of a Canadian housing bubble begins to fade.

"It could take until the second half of the year before a cooling trend becomes evident, since home buying activity may continue to be accelerated in the first half of 2010 by expected interest rate increases and by the introductioni of the HST in Ontario and British Columbia on Canada Day."

NEWS KIDS BUYING THE BLOCK

'New kids' fuelling recovery
Average resale price set to rise to $470,000
Marty Hope, Calgary Herald
Published: Saturday, January 23, 2010

Pent-up demand for resale housing that bubbled to the surface midway through 2009 will continue to be a factor this year, says the new president of the Calgary Real Estate Board.

In her inaugural address to the city's real estate industry, Diane Scott said sales, prices and listings will continue to increase as the local economy and consumer confidence rebounds from the recession.

It's the "new kids on the block" -- the 25-to 34-year-olds who helped fuel the recovery in the latter half of last year -- that will continue to fuel the 2010 market, she said.

Scott, who is broker/owner of Royal LePage Solutions Inc., said the average price of detached homes within Calgary's city limits will likely move up slightly more than six per cent this year to $470,000.

At the same time, Scott predicted there will be 17,000 resale homes changing hands, an increase of 17 per cent -- while the number of new listings will likely rise to 25,0000, up from nearly 22,500 in 2009.

The average price of condos will also likely climb this year, going to $296,000 from a year-end average of $283,734 in 2009, said Scott.

Sales will likely grow by 10.6 per cent to 7,000, she said, predicting that listings will likely increase to 10,750 this year, up from 10,323 last year.

"Single-family resale prices will again outpace condos in 2010, as equity gains from pre-2006 will enable move-up buyers to afford more," said Scott, a 30-year veteran of Calgary's real estate industry. "Consequently, the price gap between single-family homes and condominiums will continue to widen for the short term."

For young buyers, low mortgage rates and relatively low prices provided the impetus to get into home ownership, said Scott, who opened her real estate business last February.

"Affordability has been the silver lining in last year's housing market, even in the face of slowing wage growth," she said.

For the previous two years, first-timers had been pretty much shunted to the sidelines until the market turnaround in 2009.

From having a maximum buying power of about $250,000, families found that with the mortgage rates slipping to 50-year lows, their buying power went as high as $375,000, said Scott.

"In two years, (the market) has gone from sizzle to fizzle to simmer -- and today, the market has entered a more balanced and stable condition," she said.

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RESALE HOUSING MARKET

2009 2010
Single-detached homes*
-Sales 14,440 17,000
-Listings 22,459 25,000
-Average price $442,327 $470,000
Condominiums*
-Sales 6,328 7,000
-Listings 10,323 10,750
-Average price $283,734 $296,000
Towns
-Sales 3,943 4,500
-Listings 8,502 8,000
-Average price $352,704 $364,000
- Metro