Calgary sales hit a new record for the month of May, with 3,120 homes trading hands, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board. However, sellers are still reaping the rewards with new listings continuing to decline limiting competition, as home prices steadily increase.
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Condo Apartments Leading the Charge
The big boost in sales can be attributed to the rise in interest in condo apartments. There were 858 sales of apartments in May, a 36% increase since last year. 1,025 new apartments were listed on the market, an increase of 8% year-over-year. New listings have not yet outpaced sales, and as a result prices for condos have increased by 11% in the past year to $298,600.
New listings across the board have fallen by 15% year-over-year, with 3,652 homes coming to market last month. This means that inventory is also far below last year’s figures, with only 3,207 homes currently available for sale, a decline of 38.5%. As Calgary real estate rises in popularity and more people move to the area, the likelihood is that available inventory will continue to move quickly.
The trend in rising prices may be here to stay as well as long as homes continue to be comparatively affordable in the city, compared to other major markets. The benchmark price in Calgary for a home in May was $557,000, compared to the average Canadian home costing $744,600. In the semi-detached sector, the average price has crossed the $600,000 threshold for the first time, while detached homes now cost an average of $674,000, over 4% higher than the peak set in 2022 of $647,000.
- Read: The Bank of Canada’s Interest Rate Pause: Assessing Real Estate Prices Since Last Year’s Hikes
Local Markets Suffering From Listing Shortage
The lack of new homes coming to market is the dominant storyline in many of the local Calgary markets. There were 260 new listings in Airdrie, down 18.2% year-over-year, while Cochrane had 135, down 3.6% and Okotoks had only 87 new listings, 25% lower than last year.
With the decline in new listings, the limited months of supply mean that conditions are extremely tight. Airdrie only has 0.85 months of supply, while Okotoks has only 0.93. These persistently tight conditions mean home prices continue to creep up. Airdrie’s average home price is now $502,900, only a slight increase of 0.6%, and in Okotoks it has increased by 3.6% to $575,900.
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