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Keith
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Calgary, May 10, 2010 – According to preliminary figures released today by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC), total housing starts in the Calgary Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) reached 909 units in April 2010, up from 321 units in the previous year. To the end of April, total housing starts increased from 1,067 units in 2009 to 3,070 units in 2010.
Single-detached builders started work on 642 homes in April 2010, up from 234 units started a year earlier. “Low inventories continue to provide builders an opportunity to increase production,” said Richard Cho, CMHC’s Senior Market Analyst for Calgary. “The upward pressure on inventories has been light as a high proportion of homes are being absorbed at completion,” he added. To the end of April, 2,170 units broke ground, an increase from 793 units started in 2009. In April, multi-family starts which include semi-detached, row and apartment units, rose from 87 units in 2009 to 267 units in 2010. “Multi-family production has been higher each month this year compared to 2009 activity,” noted Cho. After the first four months, 900 multi-family units were started, up from 274 units in 2009. “Despite the positive gains in multi-family production, elevated apartment inventories have kept production relatively low,” he said.
Across Alberta, housing starts in the seven largest cities increased from 794 units in April 2009 to 2,534 in April 2010. For census agglomerations, Grande Prairie, Lethbridge, Medicine Hat and Red Deer posted higher year-over-year gains in total housing starts last month.
As Canada’s national housing agency, CMHC draws on more than 60 years of experience to help Canadians access a variety of quality, environmentally sustainable and affordable homes. CMHC also provides reliable, impartial and up-to-date housing market reports, analysis and knowledge to support and assist consumers and the housing industry in making vital decisions. For more information, visit www.cmhc.ca or call 1-800-668-2642. See attached file for original PDF Document.
Economic optimism, improved choice and price stability contribute to a balanced housing market
Calgary, May 3, 2010 – Calgary’s housing market continues at a healthy and balanced pace, according to figures released today by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®).
The number of single family homes sold in April 2010 in the city of Calgary was up 5 per cent from the same time a year ago, while condominium sales saw an increase of 10 per cent from the same time a year ago.
April 2010 saw 1,352 single family homes sold in the city of Calgary. This is a decrease of 3 per cent from 1,396 sales in March 2010. In April 2009, single family home sales totaled 1,290. The number of condominium sales for the month of April 2010 was 639. This was an increase of 5 per cent from the 609 condominium transactions recorded in March 2010. In April 2009, condominium sales were 579.
“Continued economic optimism, improved choice and price stability are all contributing to a healthy and balanced housing market in Calgary,” says Diane Scott, president of CREB®. “Calgary’s housing market is set to simmer, not sizzle in 2010. We can be grateful that we are not facing any real danger of a housing bubble here in our market.”
“There has been some talk about a bubble in some parts of Canada but the rapid price increases seen in Vancouver, Victoria and southern Ontario have not been seen in Calgary,” Scott acknowledges. “Single family house prices are coming back nicely compared to 2009,” says Scott.
The average price of a single family home in the city of Calgary in April 2010 was $460,378, showing an decrease of 2 per cent from March 2010, when the average price was $471,269, and showing an increase of 8 per cent from April 2009, when the average price was $426,311. The average price of a condominium in the city of Calgary was $289,588, showing a 2 per cent decrease from March 2010, when the average price was $296,660 and a 4 per cent increase over last year, when the average price was $277,953. Average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods, or account for price differentials between geographical areas.
The median price of a single family home in the city of Calgary for April 2010 was $417,000, showing a 1 per cent decrease from March 2010, when the median price was $423,000, and a 10 per cent increase from April 2009, when the median price was $380,000. The median price of a condominium in April 2010 was $267,500, showing a 3 per cent decrease from March 2010, when the median was $275,000. That’s up 7 per cent from April 2009, when the median price was $251,000.
All city of Calgary MLS® statistics include properties listed and sold only within Calgary’s city limits. The median price is the price that is midway between the least expensive and most expensive home sold in an area during a given period of time. During that time, half the buyers bought homes that cost more than the median price and half bought homes for less than the median price. “Our average price is holding relatively steady,” says Scott. “The pace of price increase has been tempered by the rate of new listings that has been growing faster than sales. Sales levels are still well below the high demand from 2004-2008, mainly because we are still not seeing high job growth and unemployment has remained high.” Single family listings in the city of Calgary added for the month of April totaled 3,082, an increase of 3 per cent from March 2010 when 2,988 new listings were added, and showing an increase of 53 per cent from April 2009, when 2,010 new listings came to the market. Condominium new listings in the city of Calgary added for April 2010 were 1,335, down 3 per cent from March 2010, when the MLS® saw 1,376 condo listings coming to the market. This is an increase of 38 per cent from April 2009, when new condominium listings added were 967.
“Calgary didn’t see the impacts of the very low interest rates the way other areas of Canada did,” says Scott. “Calgarians are also not rushing out to beat the rate increases as they are seeing less risk of rising prices squeezing them out of the market.” “In fact financially, Calgarians are in a very healthy position. Just over 37 per cent of our median pre-tax household income was needed to service the mortgage on a typical detached bungalow in Calgary—that’s below the national average,” says Scott.
CREB® is a professional body of 5,337 licensed brokers and registered associates, representing 244 member offices and is dedicated to enhancing the value, integrity and expertise of its REALTOR® members. REALTORS® are committed to a high standard of professional conduct, ongoing education, and a strict Code of Ethics and Standards of Business Practice. Using the services of a professional REALTOR® can help consumers take full advantage of real estate opportunities while reducing their risks when buying or selling real estate. The board does not generate statistics or analysis of any individual member or company’s market share. All MLS® active listings for Calgary and area may be found on the board’s website at www.creb.com.
According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, Prices of homes in Calgary increased 3% in March compared to February. I believe that this, coupled with what has been a fairly steady increase in activity over the last six months, indicates a well founded recovery in the Calgary market. All indications are that mortgage interest rates are set to increase fairly substantially, I believe on the order of 1%, over the next couple of months, making this a window of opportunity to buy at what is still a bargain in Calgary. Those who wait until this Fall will likely be looking back and regretting any decision to wait because they could have bought much more home at a lower price and mortgage rate by acting now.
Most of us think about owning a home, most of us want to own a home some day, why not now?
Prices of homes in Calgary have been falling. One of the major banks recently forecast that the price of an average home in Calgary will drop by 1% in 2009 before an increase occurs in 2010. What this indicates is that we are at, or very close to the bottom in terms of home prices in our city. NOW IS THE TIME TO BUY.
Why would you want to buy when you can rent?
Let’s Do Some Math:
Taking the middle road, in five years your $265,000 home purchase will pay you about $45,000 when you move out. If you Rent, when you move out you will be lucky if you get your damage deposit back.
Something to think about: Countries around the world are printing money like crazy to combat the financial crisis, this will have the longer term effect of de-valuing currencies. Can you spell I-N-F-L-A-T-I-O-N? How much did you pay for a chocolate bar ten years ago? How much will you pay in ten years from now??
How Bad Is The Housing Market In Calgary?
I am a Realtor, so by nature I am an optimist. Every day I get questioned about how bad the re-sale home market is in Calgary. Every day I respond that while it is pretty rough out there, it’s not as bad as some pessimists would have you believe. Here are some of my opinions on where the market is and where it is going. I will strongly caution that anybody who tells you that they KNOW what the market is doing is a charlatan, delusional, or both.
The re-sale home market is not nearly as bad as it feels. While home sales are off by over 25% year over year and almost 40% November 2007 compared to November 2007, the average selling price has only dropped by 2.5% year over year and 5.7% compared to last November. To me this indicates that there is significant resilience in home prices in Calgary, that the bottom has not fallen out of the market. It also indicates that there is an acceleration of price reductions happening, with the economy suffering and nobody seeming to know how to go about fixing it, no wonder people are running scared. There are a lot of price reduction and distressed selling situations out there, that is fact. The problem is that the bad news makes news, the good news gets buried.
Here is the rub, we don’t generally buy Real Estate as a short term investment. The vast majority of people buy a home to live in, raise a family, and so on. Our statistics indicate that the average length of time to own a single home is approximately five years. We must think longer term or we are in danger of scaring ourselves insane.
The average single family home in Calgary in November of 2008 is $461,497
The average single family home in Calgary in November of 2007 was $473,153 (+2.5%)
The average single family home in Calgary in November of 2006 was $408,581 (-6.2%)
The average single family home in Calgary in November of 2005 was $303,160 (-30.4%)
The average single family home in Calgary in November of 2003 was $245,658 (-43.6%)
By this logic, if I had bought five years ago and sold today my home has increased in value by 43.6%! Nothing to be ashamed of, as a matter of fact the only owners really taking a hit are those that bought for the short term (flipping) during mid-2007 and now have to sell, they projected a continued increase in property value that has no yet materialized, but their carrying cost are killing their bottom line.
I am an optimist, as I said earlier. I believe that with so many smart people focused on the economy, they will find solutions for the current malaise. While I do not think that we are going to get back to a market like 2005-2007, I do think that the market will fairly quickly return to a sustainable level of activity and growth. Calgary was affected more by over-enthusiasm (read as speculation) than by outside markets, leading to an extreme number of available listings which are now being absorbed back into the marketplace as building activity slows. My prediction is that we will see a stabilization in prices and return to a balanced market by the end of the first quarter of 2009.
We may have already seen the bottom of the market, a hard thing to do is recognize a bottom, since you have to be past it to see the change in trend. One week into December I can tell you that the prices and number of sales are off by less than November was, and may indicate the start of a reversal in the market, but it is still early. December is traditionally a slow month, and this year the conditions are ripe to make it a great time to buy, I believe that if we are not at the bottom, we are very close to it and a buying decision made now could pay huge dividends down the road a little. The one caveat, buy longer term, think in five year terms, not one year.
The Real Estate Market in Calgary is not really that bad, it just requires more thought and planning than in the last couple of years.
Calgary, December 1, 2008 – MLS® sales activity shows typical seasonal slowdown, as the end of 2008 approaches, according to figures released by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®).
Single family Calgary metro sales for the month of November totaled 670, showing a decrease of 39.3 per cent from the 1,103 sales in November 2007 and showing a decrease of 18.3 per cent from last month’s sales of 820. Condominium sales for the month of November were 284, a decrease of 42.7 per cent from the 496 condominium sales recorded in November 2007 and showing a decrease of 29 per cent from October 2008 when 399 condominiums changed hands.
“We’re coming into the homestretch, with just one month left in 2008. Market activity typically slows down during the end of any year, however, this isn’t a typical market, so the slow down that we’re seeing is somewhat magnified. This is due to uncertainty amongst consumers and it isn’t just affecting real estate, it’s affecting all consumer spending,” commented President, Ed Jensen. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, now is a great time to buy for bargain hunters and buyers who intend to buy long term; it is not a market for home flip buyers. Prices have come down and there are excellent deals to be had.” Jensen, concluded.
The average price of a single family Calgary metro home in November 2008 was $435,471, showing a decrease of 5.8 per cent from November 2007, when the average price was $462,134, and showing a decrease of 3 per cent from October when the average price was $449,100. The average price of a Calgary metro condominium was $285,820, showing an 8.6 per cent decrease from November 2007 when the average price was $312,710, and showing a decrease of 1.2 per cent over last month, when the average price was $289,148. Average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differentials between geographical areas.
Single family Calgary metro new listings added for the month of November totaled 1,567, a decrease of 19.6 per cent from November 2007, when new listing added totaled 1,949 and a decrease of 32.5 per cent from last month, when new listings coming to the market were 2,322. Calgary metro condominium new listings added in November 2008 were 741, showing a decrease of 16.7 per cent from the 890 new condominium listings added in November 2007 and a decrease of 30.8 per cent from last month’s condominium listings of 1,071.
The median price of a single family Calgary metro home in November 2008 was $387,300, showing a decrease of 5 per cent from November 2007, when the median price was $407,500 and down 0.7 per cent from last month when the median price was $390,000. All Calgary Metro MLS® statistics include properties listed and sold only within Calgary’s City limits. The median price is the price that is midway between the least expensive and most expensive home sold in an area during a given period of time. During that time, half the buyers bought homes that cost more than the median price and half bought homes for less than the median price.
The Calgary Real Estate Board is a professional body of 5,498 licensed brokers and registered associates, representing 249 Member offices. The Board does not generate statistics or analysis of any individual member or company’s market share. All MLS® active listings for Calgary and area may be found on the Board’s website at www.creb.com.
I’ve been patiently waiting for somebody to go out on a limb and give me some insight as to what affect the economic turmoil on the world stock markets will have on the Real Estate market in Calgary. I’ve asked everyone that I know in positions of knowledge and have had a hard time getting beyond a shoulder shrug and a quick change of subject. So with some trepidation I find myself climbing out on that limb while keeping an eye carefully out for anybody with a chain saw. It is Wednesday evening, October 8, 2008 as I write this, and I have been heartened by today’s financial developments. For once, and it may be unique in history, most of the main players are pulling in the same direction! I think that this fact alone bodes well for avoiding any further melt down. The lowering of mortgage interest and injection of liquidity into the markets will help real estate. Here is my prediction: We are at the bottom. I believe that in the next few days the consumer will realize that the Real Estate market has been stabilized and buying will restart. With buyers entering the market it will quickly affect home values and selling times, within a couple of months we will see the release of pent-up demand that exists in Calgary. Calgary has very strong base economics, but with prices dropping over the last few months buyers have been reluctant to enter the market. As soon as the general public starts to see that the bottom has been reached there will be a relatively quick recovery of strength in our market. To be clear, I don’t mean that suddenly our home values will jump by a large percentage, just that we will return to a regime where sales and prices will be more balanced than they have been recently. What does this mean? It’s a good time to buy in Calgary.
The community of South Calgary is located in the southwest quadrant of the city and consists of the neighbourhoods of Marda Loop, Garrison Woods, Altadore, and Riverpark.
The South Calgary area was annexed by the City in 1907 but remained undeveloped until the early 1950s.
The area offers picturesque views of both the city and the mountains. The South Calgary area also contains a variety of styles of housing, reflective of its 50-year development.
In addition, the Marda Loop area has served as a business revitalization area, enhancing the commercial areas of the community.
The South Calgary Community Association has a variety of resources available for residents. The community’s outdoor pool, tennis courts and two skating rinks (which become beach volleyball courts in the summer) offer recreational opportunities to residents. Various sports teams and a play group also operate through the community association.
The community centre is also used by a variety of outside groups, ranging from catering groups who make use of the centre’s commercial kitchen, to organizations such as the miniatures club, orchid society and doll enthusiasts. The community association also makes an effort to address issues of concern to residents, and is currently developing a traffic committee to address traffic concerns facing the rapidly developing area.
Schools
King Edward Elementary and Junior High - Public
Altadore Elementary - Public
Calgary Waldorf School - Private
Glenmore Christian Academy - Private
Lycee Louis Pasteur - Private
Demographics
Located in Ward 11, Altadore has a population of 8,175, according to the 2006 Civic Census with approximately 11.9% comprising the immigrant population. A total of 800 families accounted for 1,280 children still living at home with 37.1% of these being six to 14 years old.
According to Statistics Canada, the median household income for Altadore in 2000 was $53,786. In addition, 66.8% of the population over 20 completed college, attended university or graduated university with a degree. An additional 11.2% graduated from trade schools.
There are a total of 2,820 occupied private dwellings in Altadore with 47.5% being single detached dwellings (Statistics Canada, 2001 Census of Canada).