January 2013 Calgary Regional Housing Market Statistics released by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®) for the City of Calgary confirmed a 15.2% increase in residential sales activity over January 2012. The breakdown showed 1,230 residential units sold in the City of Calgary in January 2013 (which includes single family homes, condominium townhomes and condominium apartments) compared to the 1,068 units sold in January 2012. The Benchmark Price of $392,000 was up 8.4% from January 2012's $361,800 but relatively unchanged from December 2012's $390,100. January 2013's Calgary resale market performance continued to build on the record breaking year that the City of Calgary experienced in 2012.
The new President of CREB®, Becky Walters, commented, "Overall indicators put the market in balanced conditions yet the lower level of inventories can pose a challenge for buyers, as they have to make their buying decision quicker than buyers have done over the past four years." She also added, “However, consumers are still price-sensitive and looking for value in their purchase."
Ann-Marie Lurie, Chief Economist for CREB® also weighed in this month, "While January’s year-over-year increase seems significant, price recovery occurred in the spring months of 2012 under tighter market conditions and home prices leveled off for the remainder of the year." She also added, "With excess supply relative to demand persisting for several years, the condominium apartment market has been slow to recover."
She put Calgary's economic mood as "cautiously optimistic", pointing to the fact that energy companies face new market access challenges with various options being considered to reach more diverse markets other than the US.
How do prices today's compare to the past 5 years?
CREB® now uses the Benchmark Price instead of the median price as a more accurate reflection of market pricing.
Here are the January 2013 Benchmark Prices for each category:
Single Family Homes $436,900
Condo Townhomes $283,400
Condo Apartments $251,300
Composite $392,000
The City of Calgary Composite Benchmark Price of $392,000 for January 2013 is the weighted value of all 3 categories. This is up 8.4% compared to January 2012 and is up 6.5% from January 2010, but still remains down 0.7% compared to January 2008. Overall, Calgary residential real estate values have almost returned to their historic highs reached in 2007.
This lower January 2013 Composite Benchmark Price is from the Condo Townhome category still being down 8.6% in price from January 2008 and the Condo Apartment category being down 9.7% from January 2008. The Single Family Home category has recovered and is 3.1% higher than January 2008's price.
- Calgary Residential Prices - January 2013
Every price category over $350,000 showed sales activity increases from January 2012, but the $1,500,000 to $1,749,999 category was once again on top with an amazing 400% increase (from 1 to 5 sales). This category consistently performed well in 2012, mainly because of the so very few actual sales in this category. The next most active category was the $1,000,000 to $1,249,999 with a 167% increase (from 3 to 8 sold).
The category Calgary luxury homes (properties that sold for $1 million and over) also set records. For the month of January 2013, there were 30 sales compared to only 15 sold in January 2012 - a 100% increase! 22 of these 30 luxury homes sold (73%) were in the $1 million to $1.5 million category.
SUMMARY:
The momentum in Calgary's residential housing market sales activity from 2012's record breaking numbers continued into January 2013. While the overall 2013 economic forecasts for Canada have been downgraded, the Calgary economy still remains cautiously optimistic. Low interest rates coupled with relative price affordability in most categories continue to fuel Calgary's residential real estate market.
Calgary luxury homes in every category over $1 million also had more activity in January 2013 than in 2012!
Expect the balanced MLS Calgary resale market to continue posting strong sales activity with numbers matching or exceeding those achieved in 2012.
HOW IS YOUR HOME PERFORMING RELATIVE TO THE MARKET?
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These Calgary real estate statistics help shed light on the overall state of the Calgary real estate market and the trend unfolding for rest of 2013. If you have questions about the market in your community or about your home value, we'd be happy to answer any questions you may have.
For more information on the current Calgary real estate market, contact us online, or call 403-837-8100. We're here to help!
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