Detached homes drive Calgary sales growth in October – October 2020 Real Estate Statistics Report
Sunday, November 8th, 2020Home sales rise along with supply
City of Calgary, November 2020
September sales activity jumped to 1,702 units, the strongest September total since 2014.
New listings in September improved over last month, but levels remained comparable to the previous year. The increase in sales relative to new listings did prevent any monthly gains in inventory levels, but supply in the market is still down 12 percent compared to last year.
“The recent rise in new listings, combined with low lending rates and softness in prices, has helped support some of the recent upward trend in sales,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
“However, conditions vary significantly based on the price range and property type.”
The adjustment in supply relative to demand has caused the housing market to move toward more balanced conditions. The current 3.7 months of supply represents the most balanced conditions seen for September in over five years. This has helped support some of the recent monthly gains in prices.
Total residential benchmark prices have trended up over the past three months, resulting in September prices that are similar to prices recorded at the same time last year.
Despite some of the recent improvements, the impact of COVID-19 is still present. Year-to-date sales remain nearly nine percent below last year’s levels, while city-wide prices are still over one percent lower than last year. Considerable risk also weighs on the housing market due to economic uncertainty and a struggling labor market.
View the full report here: September 2020 Report
Total residential sales in August were relatively stable compared to last year with year-over-year gains in the detached and row sectors.
These gains offset declines in the apartment and semi-detached products. With 1,573 sales in August, this is consistent with levels over the past five years. Year-to-date sales activity remains nearly 13 percent below last year.
“Recent national reports have shown a bounce back to new record levels over the past several months. Calgary has seen improvements over the lows recorded during the lockdowns but is far from record levels,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
“The situation in Calgary has been slightly different as the job losses were not isolated to sectors that are typically associated with rental demand. We have started to see improvements in the job market compared to previous months as some jobs start to return.” However, the impact of COVID-19 on the economy is not over.
“There have been more than 100,000 jobs lost since last year and Calgary’s unemployment rate sits at 15 percent. This is well above the national average of 11 percent,” said Lurie. New listings are easing and is helping to chip away at existing inventory compared to the higher levels recorded last year. However, the pace of year-over-year decline has eased as inventory levels have trended up relative to levels recorded a few months ago.
The months of supply has also risen compared to the past few months and now sits at four months. This gain has slowed some of the monthly gains on prices. The residential benchmark price in August was $420,800 and is nearly one percent lower than last years’ levels.
View the full report here: August 2020 Newsletter
After three months where COVID-19 weighed heavily on the housing market, sales activity in June continued to trend up from the previous month, totaling 1,747 units.
Caution remains necessary, as monthly sales are nearly two percent lower than activity recorded last year. However, this represents a significant improvement compared to the past several months, where year-over-year declines exceeded 40 percent.
“Recent price declines, easing mortgage rates and early easing of social restrictions are likely contributing to the better-than-expected sales this month,” said CREB® chief economist Ann- Marie Lurie.
“However, the market remains far from normal. Challenges, such as double-digit unemployment rates, will continue to weigh on the market for months to come.”
New listings in June totaled 3,335 units, a six percent increase over last year. The recent rise in new listings caused inventories to trend up, but they remain well below last year’s levels.
Despite some recent monthly gains in supply, sales activity was high enough to cause the months of supply to dip below four months for the first time since May 2019. If this trend continues, it should help to ease the downward pressure on prices.
Residential benchmark prices are comparable to last month, but they remain nearly three percent lower than last year’s levels.
Detached Sector
Sales activity in June totalled 1,092 units. This is an improvement over the past few months and only slightly lower than last year’s levels.
Despite citywide declines, year-over-year sales activity improved in the City Centre, North East, North, South East and East districts.
June also saw an increase in new listings, which is causing some monthly gains in inventory. However, increased sales offset the rise in new listings, causing the months of supply to trend toward more balanced conditions.
Detached benchmark prices remained relatively stable compared to last month but were two percent lower than last year’s levels. Year-over-year price declines were recorded across most districts, with the largest declines in the North West, North East and City Centre districts.
Apartment Sector
Apartment sales totalled 227 units in June. This is an improvement from the 136 units last month, but it is still nearly 13 percent lower than last year’s levels and over 30 percent lower than longer-term averages.
New listings rose compared to last month and last year. This did translate into some monthly inventory gains, but overall inventory levels remain lower than last year’s levels.
The months of supply has come down from the high levels recorded over the past few months.
Benchmark prices continued to trend down this month, totalling $240,900. This is a year-over- year decline of nearly four percent.
The resale apartment sector continues to be one of the hardest hit in terms of relative declines in both sales and prices.
Attached Sector
The attached sector has faced the smallest impact from the pandemic. June sales were nearly three percent higher than last year’s levels and remain comparable to longer-term averages. The attached sector has generally benefited from its status as a more affordable alternative to the detached sector.
Like the detached sector, the attached sector saw new listings rise compared to both last year and last month. However, the months of supply trended toward more balanced conditions and improved over last year’s levels.
Benchmark prices remained relatively stable compared to the previous month, but fell by nearly four percent compared to last year. The higher price decline in this sector could be a contributing factor to the improving sales activity.
View the full report here: June Report
In March I celebrated my 33rd year as a licensed real estate practitioner. I can tell you that in 33 years, the real estate industry has never had to deal with a situation quite like the COVID-19 outbreak.

Real estate practitioners are salespeople whose job it is to market and sell property, but people live in the ‘inventory’ that they sell. This means that the owners/occupants of properties for sale must regularly allow germy strangers into their homes.
It makes me wonder how many times the owners/occupants of listed homes contracted a cold or the flu from a prospective buyer or Realtor® pre COVID-19.
On March 23, 2020 the Alberta Real Estate Association prohibited its members from hosting open houses to protect public safety in response to COVID-19. Real estate has since been deemed an essential service by the Government of Alberta but as of this writing (June 4) the prohibition is still in effect.
In the case of Realtor® scheduled showings in Alberta, prospective buyers are accompanied by a licensed professional who must abide by the Rules and Regulations of the Real Estate Act administered by our regulator, the Real Estate Council of Alberta (RECA), as well as the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®) Rules, and the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) REALTOR® Code of Ethics.
The Real Estate Council of Alberta, the Alberta Real Estate Association and the Calgary Real Estate Board have all instituted new recommended protocols for property showings and new forms, checklists and health questionnaires for our use.
Many Realtor®s are offering virtual showing options which can include real time virtual open houses, pre-filmed virtual walk-throughs, or Realtor® only showings using Facetime, WhatsApp, Google Meet, Zoom, or other video meeting platforms to ‘show’ the buyer the property.
For in-person showings, individual brokerages can have different policies. For example:
Should an offer be made and accepted, the same process is repeated for inspectors, appraisers and service providers who need access to the property during the conditional period.
In general, buyers will need to review the recent sale prices of similar properties, the list price of competing properties and the forecast of market conditions for the market segment of a particular property when choosing an offer value.
As mentioned above, it is important to note that brokerages may have their own policies in place, and may be in addition to the protocols recommended by all of the earlier mentioned governing bodies.
During the process of preparing your property for sale you may require that service providers such as photographers, videographers, measurement specialists and stagers complete the (COVID CONTRACTOR Disclosure Form) within enough time for you to review it prior to their visit.
The MLS® system remains the same except that more Realtors® are including video links.
Where you will likely experience a change due to COVID-19 is during the marketing process for your home. For instance:
All of this is in effort to avoid those tiny little invisible yet potentially dangerous germs.
How much of this will continue to exist when the economy is fully relaunched and if/when a vaccine is available remains to be seen.
And now for the question on everyone’s minds…
Let me just consult my crystal ball.
The real estate market in general in Calgary has been correcting since the peak of 2014. The apartment market segment in Calgary has been correcting since its peak in 2008. The Chief Economist for the Calgary Real Estate Board, Ann-Marie Lurie, in the updated CREB® Calgary Economic & Housing Outlook has predicted that 2020 sales are forecasted to fall by 22% and that the City-wide benchmark price is forecasted to ease by 3% this year.
In Canada Mortgage Housing Corporation’s Housing Market Outlook SPECIAL EDITION – SPRING 2020 Forecast it predicts that the Alberta MLS® Average Price will drop 9.67% – 16.14% over the next two years.
Because each market segment, community and price range will experience different levels of impact, it is very important to consult a real estate professional for market specific data.
Having said all of that…I have been tracking the number of weekly sales for detached homes in Calgary, in segmented price ranges, since March 1st. In the $500,000.00 and under segment the number of sales from May 24th – May 30th was 123. May 17th – May 23rd recorded 117 sales. These are the highest numbers of weekly sales since March 1st, up considerably from the week of May 10th – May 16th which saw sales of 87. At the time, 112 sales had been the highest number of weekly sales since March 1st and was only 33 sales lower than the same week in 2019. Clearly there is some pent-up demand.
To see the chart of sales by price range, CONTACT US and we will be happy to send you the data.
In general, sellers will need to be realistic about their list price and should look to the recent sale prices of similar properties, the list price of competing properties and the forecast of market conditions for their market segment when deciding how to price their property.
If you have any questions, please reach out to me via email: susanita@cbcalgary.ca or call us at 403-686-1455. I am happy to discuss your unique circumstances at any time.
Susanita de Diego
Housing market activity in May remained slow, but sales exceeded the lows from April, which saw less than 600 sales in Calgary.
May sales totaled 1,080 units, a 44 percent decline from last year’s figures.”The initial shock of COVID-19 and social distancing measure is starting to ease. This is bringing some buyers and sellers back to the market. However, this market continues to remain far from normal and prices are trending down,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
“Activity has also shifted toward more affordable product, which is likely causing differing trends depending on product type and price range.”Sales are down in all price ranges, but a greater share of sales are priced below $500,000.In the higher price ranges the drop in inventory has not been enough compared to the drop in sales. Additionally, the months of supply is far higher than the already elevated levels seen during the past five years.
The shift in sales toward lower-priced product is contributing to steep average price declines in the Calgary market.
Benchmark pricing, which reflects comparisons of the same type of home, has eased by over two percent compared to last year and 0.4 percent compared to last month. This does not come as a surprise as the market continues to struggle with more supply than demand.COVID-19 and social distancing measures have contributed to rising unemployment rates and job losses throughout many economic sectors. This is weighing on consumer confidence and the housing market. Some of this job loss is temporary, but the energy sector remains the largest concern. Significant job loss throughout the typically higher-paid professional and technical services sector points to a longer adjustment period in the housing market, particularly in the higher end of the market.
Detached Sector
Apartment Sector
Attached Sector
View the full report here: May 2020 Statistics Report
After the first full month with social distancing measures in place, the housing market is adjusting to the effects of COVID-19.
April sales hit 573 units, a decline of 63 percent over last year. “The decline in home sales does not come as a surprise. The combined impact of COVID-19 and the situation in the energy sector is causing housing demand to fall,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “Demand is also falling faster than supply. This is keeping the market in buyers’ territory and weighing on prices.”
Sales activity eased across all price ranges, but the largest declines were for homes priced above $600,000. With a greater share of the sales occurring in the lower price ranges, the average price decline was more than eight percent. Prices for the average home are also declining, reflected by the benchmark price, which fell by nearly two percent compared to last year.
New listings this month totaled 1,425 units, a decline of 54 percent compared to last year. Inventories also declined, but with 5,565 units available, they remained high enough to push the months of supply above nine months.
The economic impact of the situation is significant and early indications point toward more job losses and higher unemployment rates. Several government incentives will help cushion the blow, but challenges in the housing market are expected to persist throughout this year
Detached Sector
Apartment Sector
Attached Sector
View the full report here: April 2020 Report
After a strong start to 2020, economic conditions have dramatically changed, as COVID-19 is impacting all aspects of society. The economic impact is starting to be felt across many industries. This includes the housing market.
March sales activity started the month strong, but quickly changed, as concerns regarding the spread of COVID 19 brought about social distancing measures. This had a heavy impact on businesses and employment.
“This is an unprecedented time with a significant amount of uncertainty coming from both the wide impact of the pandemic and dramatic shift in the energy sector. It is not a surprise to see these concerns also weigh on the housing market,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. By the end of March, sales activity had fallen 11 percent compared to last year. This is 37 percent lower than long-term averages. The drop in sales pushed March levels to the lowest recorded since 1995.
“The impact on the housing market will likely persist over the next several quarters,” said Lurie. “However, measures put in place by the government to help support homeowners through this time of job and income loss will help prevent more significant impacts in the housing market.” New listings dropped by 19 percent this month. This decline in new listings compared to sales caused supply levels to ease and helped prevent a larger increase in oversupply. Overall, the months of supply remain just below five months, similar to levels recorded last year.
Prices were already forecasted to ease this year due to oversupply in our market. In March, the citywide benchmark price was $417,400. This is nearly one percent lower than last year’s levels. The reduction in both sales and new listings should help prevent significant price declines in our market. However, price declines will likely be higher than originally expected due to the combined impact of the pandemic and energy sector crisis.
Detached Sector
Apartment Sector
Attached Sector
View the full report here: March 2020 Report
This month saw a double-digit gain in sales, but last February was one of the slowest levels of activity since the late ’90s.
With the extra day this February, monthly sales totaled 1,197 units. A combination of these two factors resulted in a 23 percent improvement over last year, but sales remain well below longer- term trends and consistent with the lower levels reported over the past five years.
“However, this should not diminish the fact that conditions are still improving,” said CREB®chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
“Calgary is continuing to see slow reductions in the amount of oversupply in the market, from modest changes in demand and reductions in supply. This needs to occur before we can see more stability in prices.”
The overall unadjusted benchmark price was $416,900 in February. This is similar to last month, but nearly one percent below last year’s levels. Overall, prices remain nearly 11 percent below the monthly high recorded in 2014.
Detached Sector
Apartment Sector
Attached Sector
Download the full report here: February 2020 Report
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