Alberta: Housing Market Comparison

All major markets across the province felt the impact of the shutdowns in the early part of 2020.

As the economy reopened, it was consistent that the recovery from the lows was mostly driven by detached activity. However, the pace and magnitude of the rebound was inconsistent across the province.

In 2020, the only markets that recorded sales growth were Lethbridge and Edmonton. For other markets like Medicine Hat, sales growth in the second half of the year was limited due to a significant reduction in supply levels and new listings.

Both Lethbridge and Medicine Hat saw their markets move into tighter conditions, resulting in relatively strong price gains. Meanwhile, adjustments in supply relative to sales helped shift the Red Deer market to more balanced conditions and prices there generally stabilized.

Both Grande Prairie and Fort McMurray saw some downward price pressure on an annual basis, as tighter market conditions in Fort McMurray were short lived and Grande Prairie was the only market to see supply gains throughout the year.

Despite significant job losses and unemployment rates that exceeded levels reported in Calgary, Edmonton's housing market recorded sales comparable to levels recorded over the past three years, while Calgary sales came up short. However, this could be related to the sharper decline in inventory levels in Calgary versus Edmonton, slowing the potential growth of Calgary sales.

Calgary and Edmonton saw reductions in the months of supply and recorded some recovery in prices at the end of the year, but on an annual basis, benchmark prices declined by around one per cent in both markets.

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Tagged: Calgary | Calgary Real Estate | Calgary Real Estate News | Forecast 2021