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City of Calgary, June 1, 2023 – Thanks to a significant gain in apartment condominium sales, May sales rose to 3,120, a new record high for the month. While the monthly gains have not outweighed earlier declines, this does reflect a shift from the declines reported at the start of the year.

At the same time, we continue to see fewer new listings on the market than last year, causing inventory levels to fall. With a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 85 per cent and months of supply of one month, conditions continue to favour the seller placing further upward pressure on home prices.

“Calgary’s housing market continues to exceed expectations with the recent gain in sales activity this month,” said CREB^® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “The higher interest rate environment and recent rental rate gains have driven more consumers to seek apartment condominium units. In addition, the recent rise in new apartment listings has provided enough options to support the sales gain. Calgary continues to benefit from the relatively healthy job market and recent population growth keeping housing demand strong across all property types.”

City of Calgary, May 1, 2023 – Persistent sellers’ market conditions placed further upward pressure on home prices in April. After four months of persistent gains, the total unadjusted benchmark price reached $550,800, nearly two per cent higher than last month and a new monthly record high for the city. 

“While sales activity is performing as expected, the steeper pullback in new listings has ensured that supply levels remain low,” said CREB^® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “The limited supply choice is causing more buyers to place offers above the list price, contributing to the stronger than expected gains in home prices.”

In April, sales reached 2,690 units compared to the 3,133 new listings. With a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 86 per cent, inventories declined by 34 per cent compared to last year and are over 45 per cent below long-term averages for April.

While sales have eased by 21 per cent compared to last year, the steep decline in supply has caused the months of supply to ease to just over one month. This reflects tighter market conditions than earlier in the year and compared to conditions reported last April. 

City of Calgary, April 27, 2023  –  Sales activity has behaved as expected through the start of 2023 and slowed by 43 per cent over last year’s all-time record-high performance in the first quarter. The steeper decline in the first quarter was expected, given the surge in sales last year, as purchasers were eager to enter the market ahead of expected rate gains.

“While no further rate gains have occurred so far this year, the higher lending rates and limited supply options are contributing to some of the pullbacks in sales,” said CREB^® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “Nevertheless, despite the decline, sales activity has remained well above pre-pandemic levels thanks to recent gains in migration coupled with a stronger employment market.”

The most notable challenge in the market has been related to supply levels. New listings were expected to ease as higher lending rates would make it more difficult for the move-up buyer. However, the pace of decline in new listings has exceeded expectations. New listings in the first quarter declined by 40 per cent, preventing any significant shift in the supply levels given the relatively strong sales.

City of Calgary, April 3, 2023 – Sales and new listings have improved over the levels reported at the beginning of the year. As a result, the spread between sales and new listings supported some expected monthly inventory level gains. However, the 3,233 available units reflected the lowest March inventory levels since 2006 and left the months of supply just above one month, firmly in the seller’s territory. While conditions are not as tight as last March, low inventory levels leave purchasers with limited choice, once again driving up home prices.

Total unadjusted residential home prices reached $541,800 in March, a two per cent gain over last month and nearly one per cent higher than prices reported last year. While prices remain below the May 2022 high of $546,000, the pace of price growth over the first quarter has been stronger than expected due to the persistent seller’s market conditions.

“As expected, sales have eased from record levels while remaining stronger than they were before the pandemic thanks to recent gains in migration supporting demand,” said CREB^® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

“The challenge has been centered around supply. As a result, existing homeowners may be reluctant to list as they struggle to find an acceptable housing alternative in this market. At the same time, higher lending rates can also reduce the incentives for existing homeowners to list their home.”

March recorded 3,318 new listings compared to the 2,432 sales, leaving the sales-to-new listings ratio relatively high at 73 per cent. However, both sales and new listings have eased by 40 per cent compared to levels reported last March.

City of Calgary, March 15, 2023 – At a Special General Meeting (SGM) held today, Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB^®) voted down a resolution to dissolve its operations, a move that would have initiated a merger with the Alberta Real Estate Association (AREA).

The decision came after months of outreach and engagement with CREB^®’s membership on a consolidation proposal to bring together the best of both organizations.

“It’s not the result we wanted, but the turnout was really strong, and this is how decision-making works in a governance-based organization,” Christian Twomey, CREB^® Chair, said. “We thank CREB^® members for engaging vigorously in the process and sharing input and feedback along the way.”

In total, 1,526 members participated and voted at the SGM. Twomey said there were a considerable number of members on both sides of the vote, emphasizing the different points of view that exist on the subject of consolidation.

City of Calgary, March. 1, 2023 – Consistent with typical seasonal behavior sales, new listings and inventory levels all trended up compared to last month. However, with 1,740 sales and 2,389 new listings, inventory levels improved only slightly over the last month and remained amongst the lowest February levels seen since 2006.

“While higher lending rates are impacting sales activity as expected, we are seeing a stronger pullback in new listings, keeping supply levels low and supporting some stronger-than-expected monthly price gains,” said CREB^® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “Prices are still below the May 2022 peak and it is still early in the year. However, if we do not see a shift in supply, we could see further upward pressure on prices over the near term.”

Both sales and new listings declined over last year’s record high for the month. While sales activity remained stronger than long-term trends and levels reported throughout the 2015 to 2020 period, new listings fell below long-term trends.

City of Calgary, Jan. 24, 2023 – The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB^®) has released its 2023 Forecast Calgary and Region Yearly Outlook Report. The report, which is prepared by CREB^® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie, provides a detailed analysis of the economic and housing market trends in Calgary and surrounding areas for the upcoming year.

According to the report, elevated lending rates are expected to weigh on sales in 2023, bringing levels down from the record high in 2022. However, with forecasted sales of 25,921 in 2023, levels are still expected to be higher than the activity reported before the pandemic.

“Higher commodity prices, recent job growth, record high migration and relative affordability are expected to help offset some of the impacts higher lending rates are having on housing demand. At the same time, we are entering the year with low supply levels which are expected to prevent significant price declines in our market,” said Lurie.

City of Calgary, Dec. 1, 2022 – Residential sales in the city slowed to 1,648 units, a year-over-year decline of 22 per cent, but 12 per cent above the 10-year average.

The pullback in sales over the past six months was not enough to erase gains from earlier in the year as year-to-date sales remain nearly 10 per cent above last year’s record high. The year-to-date sales growth has been driven by a surge in both apartment condominium and row sales.

“Easing sales have been driven mostly by declines in the detached sector of the market,” said CREB^® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “Higher lending rates are impacting purchasers buying power and limited supply choice in the lower price ranges of the detached market is likely causing many purchasers to place buying decisions on hold.”