Roller-coaster ride to start 2015 ended with more balanced conditions

The arrival of 2015 was bound to signal a change of pace for Calgary's resale real estate industry, which had just wrapped a bow around a banner 2014.

In fact, with oil prices showing signs of deteriorating toward the end of 2014, December's four per cent sales decline – following 11 consecutive months of sales increases –was really a sign of things to come.

"Changes in the economic climate are expected to cool housing market conditions in 2015, and December activity may be the first indication of this shift," said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie at the time.

That change came early and it came swift, with sales falling by more than 30 per cent in January to five-year lows even though new listings maintained their upward momentum by increasing by 37 per cent compared to the same period last year.

Calgary inventory levels ease

Despite the 18 per cent year-over-year decline in June home sales, for a total of 2,183 units, transaction levels remain only five per cent below the 10 year average for June and three per cent above levels over the past five years.

"We've seen less concern from consumers lately," said CREB® president Corinne Lyall. "One of the main reasons is that we haven't seen the worst case scenarios play out in the energy and housing sectors.

"Consumers who were waiting for wide-spread price declines have been surprised to see that it just hasn't happened yet, and so they've decided to take advantage of the improved selection and lower lending rates.

For the third consecutive quarter, sales growth in all communities surrounding Calgary was in the double digits. In addition to lifestyle preferences, demand in surrounding areas has improved due to the relative price advantage over Calgary and less supply constraints in many of the surrounding markets.

During the first quarter of the year, 44 per cent of new listings in surrounding areas were priced below $400,000. Within the city of Calgary, 23 per cent of single family homes were under this price point.

With an increase in Calgary's single-family market sales, a decline in new listings has brought inventory numbers to their lowest level for the month of March since 2006.

Single-family sales at the end of the first quarter of this year totalled 3,901 units, a 9.5 per cent increase over the same period last year while new listings declined by nearly five per cent. As sales growth outpaced the amount of new listings growth in the market, inventory levels dropped to just over 2,000 units.

Calgary, April 1, 2014 – Residential sales activity improved across all sectors in March. However, declining new listings in the single family sector combined with further gains in sales activity decreased single family inventory to the lowest March level since 2006.

"There are several factors contributing to the growth in housing demand, including the inflow of people to our province over the past two years, strong gains in employment and tight rental conditions," says CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

The last of the new homeowners have moved into CALLA, a new 168-unit condominium development located at 14th Avenue SW and 6th Street built by Qualex-Landmark.

This is the fourth condominium building built in Calgary by Qualex- Landmark, the new homes are garden- inspired and quality crafted.

Calgary's housing market emerged from February's deep freeze to post some impressive numbers. While keeping active proved to be a difficult task for many Calgarians, with wind chills in the city dropping down to minus 40, activity amongst home buyers and sellers remained brisk.

According to CREB®, 1,854 homes changed owners in February, marking an 8.7 per cent increase over February 2013. While still representing a significant rise in sales, February's gain fell short of the impressive double-digit growth seen in January, when yearover- year sales grew by 17 per cent.

Calgary, March. 3, 2014 – Following double digit gains last month, sales growth in the city of Calgary totaled 1,854 units, or an 8.68 per cent increase over the same period in 2013. Slower sales growth resulted in a reduction of listings in the single family sector. However, single family sales still totalled 1,230 units, a 1.9 per cent increase over the previous year.

"Demand growth in the single family sector has been restricted by the availability of product," says CREB® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. "New listings in this sector fell for the second consecutive month, causing further tightening in an already undersupplied market."