Net migration figures point to housing market bounce back
It’s been a challenging year for Calgary’s resale housing market, which is still feeling the effects of two recession years in 2015 and 2016.
While the economy has rebounded, it has been at a slow pace, and this has been evident in the real estate industry. As of the end of June, year-to-date MLS® System sales in the resale market totalled 8,553 units, down 17.1 per cent in the city compared with the same period a year ago.
May sales activity continued to ease, with the largest declines occurring in the detached sector. Additional gains in new listings continued to increase inventory levels.
Citywide sales activity in May totalled 1,726 units, 19 per cent below last year’s levels and 24 per cent below longer-term averages. Sales activity in the detached sector declined to levels not seen in over a decade.
“The impact of rising lending rates and stricter qualification levels is causing demand to ease across all product types,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
A luxury market stats breakdown with CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie
CREB®Now: How do statistics for luxury homes fit into the overall housing market in Calgary?
Lurie: It’s usually the media that defines what the luxury market is. What I see as luxury is different from everyone else. To me, this reflects properties that have sold for over $1 million, and these properties account for roughly four per cent of all our sales activity
High-end housing market continues sluggish recovery, but slow sales bump up supply
As a former long-time writer with the Calgary Herald focusing on the real estate beat, I knew how popular coverage of the real estate industry was to readers.
One aspect of the industry people always loved reading about was the city’s luxury home market. So, I was curious how the high-end segment of the housing market has been faring lately.
Year-to-date sales – up to the end of April – of $1-million-plus properties totalled 204 transactions, which is down slightly from 211 during the same period a year ago, says Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist with CREB®.
