City of Calgary, February 1, 2017 – For the fourth consecutive month, housing inventory levels have recorded year-over-year declines. At 4,112 total units, January’s inventory was 18 per cent below last year’s levels.

“While housing conditions continue to favour buyers, a slow transition toward more balanced conditions is helping to ease downward pressure on home prices,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “Conditions have improved over last year, but people need to remember that last year’s market was one of the weakest on record. Despite the appearance of a major shift in activity, the transition in the housing market is going to be a slow process.”

January sales totaled 947 units, 24 per cent above last year, but 21 per cent below 10-year averages for the month. Sales activity improved across all product types, but only when compared to the near record lows that occurred in January 2016.

The detached segment of the market is demonstrating the most improvement. Sales activity totalled 584 units in January, a considerable improvement over the 466 sales recorded last year. Inventories have also declined pushing the months of supply to 3.2 months well below the 5.4 months recorded in January 2016.

Despite an improvement in apartment sales, new listings in the apartment sector continued to increase, causing a rise in apartment inventories. The apartment sector continues to face elevated levels of inventory in comparison to sales, weighing on prices.

The apartment benchmark price totaled $269,900 in January, five per cent lower than levels recorded last year. This change represents a total decline of 11.5 per cent since the 2014 high.

While the City of Calgary Detached segment has shown improvement that is not the case in the MD of Foothills, Airdrie, Cochrane and Okotoks.

For those who are considering taking advantage of the low interest rates to invest in real estate there are still several market segments with low absorption rates to choose from.

If you are interested in an investment strategy specific to your needs please contact us. We would love to help!

Susanita de Diego

Download: Calgary & Area Real Estate Statistics – January 2017

In a previous article, “6 Reasons Why Your House Might Not Sell”,  we reported that in 2016 in the City of Calgary only 17,804 residential properties sold compared to the 32,274 properties that were listed on the Calgary Real Estate Board multiple listing service during the year. This means that, shockingly, 44.82% of the residential properties that were listed did NOT sell!

To review – the 6 reasons a property does not sell when listed are:

1. The property was not market ready
2. The property was not available to view
3. The property was “under marketed”
4. Market conditions were not reviewed and prospects were not followed up with
5. The property had the wrong asking price
6. The realtor or owner did not have the tools in place to generate an offer

Let’s tackle the first reason, the property was not market ready.

When there is a lot of choice for buyers – in real estate this means lots of competing properties listed for sale – buyers will comparison shop. Buyers will choose the homes that have neutral environments, feel spacious and smell new and clean. This does not mean that you have to spend a lot of money renovating but it does mean that you need to do your best to prepare your property BEFORE you list it for sale.

At Coldwell Banker Complete Real Estate our goal is not to simply sell your house, but to help you realize the best price obtainable for your property in the shortest period of time. Based on proven marketing techniques, our Home Enhancement Guide will introduce you to practical ideas on how to successfully prepare your house for sale. These suggestions require a minimum amount of time and expense to complete and are designed to make your house stand out from the competition.

We are happy to provide you with our downloadable Home Enhancement Guide free of charge and trust that you will find it a valuable tool as you get your home ready to be placed on the market.

Should you have any questions about selling your home, or require any other real estate services, we’d love to help!