As Calgary’s economy roars back to life, there are strong signs of recovery, and maybe even some sustained growth, in the city’s up-and-down real estate market.
“It’s like we haven’t seen it in quite some time,” said Renzo realtor Michael Montgomery. “We are seeing a lot of interest from outside provinces coming in, and demand is really increasing.”
After heating up in late 2020, the market is once again flooded with Canadians aiming to take advantage of low lending rates.
Many are wanting to upgrade after the pandemic shutdowns.
The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) counted 27,686 home sales last year.
That’s 72 per cent higher than in 2020, and 44 per cent higher than the decade’s average.
Detached homes led the way for sales.
It’s all leading to a new problem not seen in quite some time.
“The real challenge is there’s just not the inventory out there for people to buy,” said Montgomery.
Some real estate agents say they are working with buyers who have written 10-plus offers and not been successful.
“And what that ended up doing is causing prices to increase at a far greater pace than anyone had anticipated,” said CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
Those aren’t the only signs of strong market.
The percentage of arrears to the total number of Calgary mortgages has been on a steady decline since the summer of 2020, which is typically a reliable economic indicator.
And though the number is nowhere near where it was in 2014 and 2015, the dip is encouraging.
“If the economy sort of recovers to that level, then you know, 0.3 per cent mortgage arrears rate wouldn’t be too surprising,” said Michael Mak with CMHC.
And though it’s not the best time in the city’s history, there is still some good news mixed in with the bad for buyers.
“As we move forward, rates are expected to rise a bit,” Lurie said. “So that should take some of the pressure off demand and also give that chance for supply levels to really catch up.”
What that will do to prices remains to be seen, but some economists say they expect those record breaking numbers to rise only slightly in 2022.
OTTAWA – The Canadian Real Estate Association says the number of homes sold in August fell compared with a year ago as the market remained largely stuck in a holding pattern despite borrowing costs beginning to come down.
The association says the number of homes sold in August fell 2.1 per cent compared with the same month last year.
On a seasonally adjusted month-over-month basis, national home sales edged up 1.3 per cent from July.
CREA senior economist Shaun Cathcart says that with forecasts of lower interest rates throughout the rest of this year and into 2025, “it makes sense that prospective buyers might continue to hold off for improved affordability, especially since prices are still well behaved in most of the country.”
The national average sale price for August amounted to $649,100, a 0.1 per cent increase compared with a year earlier.
The number of newly listed properties was up 1.1 per cent month-over-month.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 16, 2024.
MONTREAL – Two Quebec real estate brokers are facing fines and years-long suspensions for submitting bogus offers on homes to drive up prices during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Christine Girouard has been suspended for 14 years and her business partner, Jonathan Dauphinais-Fortin, has been suspended for nine years after Quebec’s authority of real estate brokerage found they used fake bids to get buyers to raise their offers.
Girouard is a well-known broker who previously starred on a Quebec reality show that follows top real estate agents in the province.
She is facing a fine of $50,000, while Dauphinais-Fortin has been fined $10,000.
The two brokers were suspended in May 2023 after La Presse published an article about their practices.
One buyer ended up paying $40,000 more than his initial offer in 2022 after Girouard and Dauphinais-Fortin concocted a second bid on the house he wanted to buy.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 11, 2024.
MONTREAL – The Quebec Professional Association of Real Estate Brokers says Montreal-area home sales rose 9.3 per cent in August compared with the same month last year, with levels slightly higher than the historical average for this time of year.
The association says home sales in the region totalled 2,991 for the month, up from 2,737 in August 2023.
The median price for all housing types was up year-over-year, led by a six per cent increase for the price of a plex at $763,000 last month.
The median price for a single-family home rose 5.2 per cent to $590,000 and the median price for a condominium rose 4.4 per cent to $407,100.
QPAREB market analysis director Charles Brant says the strength of the Montreal resale market contrasts with declines in many other Canadian cities struggling with higher levels of household debt, lower savings and diminishing purchasing power.
Active listings for August jumped 18 per cent compared with a year earlier to 17,200, while new listings rose 1.7 per cent to 4,840.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 6, 2024.
