Calgary Housing Market Extends Gradual Recovery

Calgary home prices and sales rose in January from the same month of 2009,according to figures from the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Photograph by: Herald Archive, Calgary Herald

CALGARY – Home sales and prices in Calgary continue to make gains, marking another rise in January.

But the housing market slowed slightly from December’s pace, according to figures released Monday by the Calgary Real Estate Board.

The city’s housing market is expected to continue a “gradual and modest” recovery, one official said, helped by low mortgage rates and more affordable prices coaxing buyers into the sector.

“Just one year ago, we were facing record low sales and more than 10 months of inventory,” board president Diane Scott said in a release.

That makes for dramatic year-over-year increases in sales figures, she noted.

“But all in all, sales this month are moving closer to the range we would expect this time of year.”

Analysts expect the Bank of Canada to start raising interest rates from historic lows this summer, once a still-tentative economic recovery takes a firmer hold.

“With a fully functioning credit creation process — check the hot housing market if you have any doubts — the clock is ticking . . . to lift policy rates and the general cost of credit from current extreme lows,” BMO economists Michael Gregory and Benjamin Reitzes said in a commentary Monday.

That could put a damper on sales later in the year, analysts expect, but help prod cautious buyers hoping to lock in current low rates.

Recent forecasts show migration — a key driver in housing markets — will continue to rise in Calgary, as job seekers come to the city.

The Calgary Real Estate Board is forecasting a six per cent rise in home prices to $470,000, while condos are forecast to appreciate over four per cent to $296,000. According to January sales figures, the average price of a single family home was $441,217, a seven per cent increase from January 2009. It was, however, a two per cent decline from December.

Average condominium prices are up about four per cent from a year ago to $282,639. That was a two per cent decrease from December’s average.

The number of single family homes sold last month was up 39 per cent from a year ago, while condo sales jumped 67 per cent.

There were 762 single family homes sold in Calgary in January, a five per cent decline from December.

For condominiums, there were 376 sales, up 10 per cent from December.

The number of new listings for single family homes rose to 1,822, more than double than in December. But it was below the 2,086 listings added to the market last January.

For condominiums, new listings also doubled in January from December, as fewer sellers opted to list in the lead-up to the holiday season.

lschmidt@theherald.canwest.com