Condominiums are expected to see the largest price jump as more people get priced out of single-family detached housing, said a Calgary real estate agent
Housing prices in Calgary are projected to climb the fastest among all major Canadian cities in 2024, with a hotter market projected if interest rates drop by mid-year, a new report says.
Overall, the aggregate price of a home in Calgary is forecast to jump eight per cent year-over-year by the end of 2024, according to Royal LePage’s 2024 market report.
The projections come as the latest Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) data show the city’s benchmark price has risen 10.7 per cent since November 2022, with months of supply and inventory falling.
The projected increase falls in line with those seen over the past two to three years, Corinne Lyall, broker and owner of Royal LePage Benchmark, said in an interview.
“A more balanced, kind of healthy market, would be between three and five per cent a year — and so it’s double that,” she said. “But saying that, we’re certainly nowhere near some of the markets like Vancouver and Toronto that experience 20 per cent year over year.”
Calgary’s real estate market has “bucked the trend,” the report notes, as it continues on its upward price trajectory.
Condominiums are expected to see the largest price jump, projected to increase 9.5 per cent by the end of the year to $286,562. Meanwhile the median price of a single-family detached house is expected to rise six per cent to $803,692.
The rising price of condominiums is largely a downstream effect of more people being priced out of single-family detached houses, Lyall said.
“(The recession) impacted the whole real estate market, but specifically the condo market because if people can afford to buy a residence . . . they’re more likely to do that than go to condos.”
If the Bank of Canada begins to drop interest rates by mid-year — a scenario predicted in ATB Financial’s latest economic outlook report for Alberta, if core inflation drops to two per cent year over year — buyers will be motivated to jump into the market, Lyall said.
That will likely make for a slow start to 2024, she added, but by March she expects the spring market to take off — a seasonal trend the housing market experiences most years.
Calgary’s aggregate increases are notably higher than many other Canadian cities.
However, Calgary also hasn’t experienced the same tumult cities such as Toronto witnessed over the pandemic. Home prices in the Greater Toronto Area are projected to rise six per cent ($1,198,012), while prices in Greater Vancouver are forecast to increase three per cent ($1,281,732).
Activity in those markets have generally slowed this year. Transactions have declined as much as 20 to 30 per cent in some regions, Royal LePage’s report noted, as buyers wait for rates to drop.
Cooler housing markets has potentially stemmed the flow of interprovincial migrants, Lyall said, with potential buyers feeling slightly less intimidated by their local markets.
“It’s made it a little more affordable for them to want to stay if they can — so (now) it’s just the people that are really motivated to want to move to Alberta and Calgary, and maybe raise a family and be able to potentially buy a bigger home than they could in those markets.”
HALIFAX – A village of tiny homes is set to open next month in a Halifax suburb, the latest project by the provincial government to address homelessness.
Located in Lower Sackville, N.S., the tiny home community will house up to 34 people when the first 26 units open Nov. 4.
Another 35 people are scheduled to move in when construction on another 29 units should be complete in December, under a partnership between the province, the Halifax Regional Municipality, United Way Halifax, The Shaw Group and Dexter Construction.
The province invested $9.4 million to build the village and will contribute $935,000 annually for operating costs.
Residents have been chosen from a list of people experiencing homelessness maintained by the Affordable Housing Association of Nova Scotia.
They will pay rent that is tied to their income for a unit that is fully furnished with a private bathroom, shower and a kitchen equipped with a cooktop, small fridge and microwave.
The Atlantic Community Shelters Society will also provide support to residents, ranging from counselling and mental health supports to employment and educational services.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
Housing affordability is a key issue in the provincial election campaign in British Columbia, particularly in major centres.
Here are some statistics about housing in B.C. from the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation’s 2024 Rental Market Report, issued in January, and the B.C. Real Estate Association’s August 2024 report.
Average residential home price in B.C.: $938,500
Average price in greater Vancouver (2024 year to date): $1,304,438
Average price in greater Victoria (2024 year to date): $979,103
Average price in the Okanagan (2024 year to date): $748,015
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Vancouver: $2,181
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Victoria: $1,839
Average two-bedroom purpose-built rental in Canada: $1,359
Rental vacancy rate in Vancouver: 0.9 per cent
How much more do new renters in Vancouver pay compared with renters who have occupied their home for at least a year: 27 per cent
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
VANCOUVER – Voters along the south coast of British Columbia who have not cast their ballots yet will have to contend with heavy rain and high winds from an incoming atmospheric river weather system on election day.
Environment Canada says the weather system will bring prolonged heavy rain to Metro Vancouver, the Sunshine Coast, Fraser Valley, Howe Sound, Whistler and Vancouver Island starting Friday.
The agency says strong winds with gusts up to 80 kilometres an hour will also develop on Saturday — the day thousands are expected to go to the polls across B.C. — in parts of Vancouver Island and Metro Vancouver.
Wednesday was the last day for advance voting, which started on Oct. 10.
More than 180,000 voters cast their votes Wednesday — the most ever on an advance voting day in B.C., beating the record set just days earlier on Oct. 10 of more than 170,000 votes.
Environment Canada says voters in the area of the atmospheric river can expect around 70 millimetres of precipitation generally and up to 100 millimetres along the coastal mountains, while parts of Vancouver Island could see as much as 200 millimetres of rainfall for the weekend.
An atmospheric river system in November 2021 created severe flooding and landslides that at one point severed most rail links between Vancouver’s port and the rest of Canada while inundating communities in the Fraser Valley and B.C. Interior.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.
The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.
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