Calgary Real Estate Market Update - January 2023

There are not many affordable properties available in January.
The number of new postings dropped to their lowest levels since the late 1990s in January. Although new listings decreased across almost all price ranges, the rate of fall was faster for properties with lower prices.

Additionally, despite slowing down from the high levels reported last year, sales activity continued to follow long-term trends. The makeup of sales has changed, though, as detached residences accounted for only 47% of all sales.

“Higher lending rates are causing many buyers to seek out lower-priced products in our market,” stated CREB® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “However, the higher rates are likely also preventing some move-up activity in the market impacting supply growth for lower-priced homes. This is causing differing conditions in the housing market based on price range.”

Inventory levels are still 43% below long-term trends for the month at 2,451 units available. Despite significantly lower overall inventory levels than in January of last year, there is a large price range-based heterogeneity. Inventory levels for properties priced over $500,000 improved while those for homes priced under $500,000 saw year-over-year decreases of over 30%.

Lower supply levels are limiting a meaningful shift toward balanced circumstances, despite the fact that conditions are not as tight as they were last year. Prices did trend up slightly over the month, ending the seven-month fall. As of January, the benchmark price was $520,900, which is 5% more than it was in January of last year, although still much behind the $546,000 high reached in May 2022.

Detached
Despite an increase in inventory levels year over year, detached home sales experienced the worst decline. Higher interest rates are reducing the demand for more expensive homes, which is promoting inventory growth. Stronger sales in the lower price ranges are being held back by a restricted supply of lower-priced goods.

Prices have trended down in the more expensive City Centre while still showing some moderate gains in other areas of the city, suggesting that market variety is largely to blame for the various pricing trends. In total, the benchmark price rose to $622,800 in January, slightly above levels seen in December but falling short of the May 2022 monthly peak.

Semi Detached
Sales of semi-detached homes dropped in January compared to last year’s levels but were still steady over those attained prior to the outbreak. Inventory levels are now lower than the already low levels reported in January due to a decline in new listings. Similar to the detached housing market, semi-detached homes have undergone changes, with the continued high demand for less expensive products in comparison to the supply most likely leading to divergent pricing trends.

Most districts recorded monthly benchmark price rises in January. Calgary’s benchmark prices for semi-detached homes did, however, trend downward in the more expensive City Centre neighbourhood, producing a modest decline from levels observed in December 2022. Prices remained almost 6% higher than levels reported in January 2022 despite the overall monthly adjustment.

Row Homes
Although sales of row homes decreased from last year’s record high, they were still far above long-term trends for the month. If there had been more listings on the market, sales would have most likely been higher. New listings fell over the previous year and were more than 20% below long-term norms in January. The months of supply remained below two months in January despite changes in sales and new listings, which did little to alter the poor inventory situation.

The conditions remained consistently tight, which also prevented any downward pressure on prices, which showed a gain of about 1% over December levels. With a benchmark price of $361,400, levels are still over 12% higher than in January of last year and only marginally behind the monthly high of $363,700 reached in June 2022.

Condominium
Apartment condominium sales did not progress at the same rate as Compared to the record-high prices established in 2014, the spread has shrunk by approximately 10%.


Regional market statistics

Airdrie
Sales in January decreased from their record high from the previous year, although they nevertheless followed long-term patterns for the month. The decline in sales did outperform the decline in new listings, which caused inventory levels to rise from the very low levels noted in 2017. Despite the increase in inventory, January levels are still more than 50% below long-term trends.

The months of supply have increased over the record low set in January 2022 due to these changes in the market. However, with a supply of less than two months, conditions remained generally tight and supported a minor monthly price increase. The benchmark price rose to $480,200 in January, about eight % greater than January of last year, but still less than the monthly high of $510,700 reached in April 2022.

Cochrane
Sales in January decreased from their record high from the previous year but were still in line with monthly long-term patterns. New listings also decreased at the same period as sales, though not as quickly. Additionally, inventory levels increased from the nearly historic lows noted in January. The majority of purchasers will probably be pleased to hear that inventories are improving, but current levels are still almost 40% below long-term trends.

The months of supply have increased to almost three months due to changes in both sales and inventories. The pressure on housing prices, which have increased significantly over the last two years, has lessened somewhat as a result. Overall, the The benchmark price in January was $488,900, down more than 1% from the previous month but still 7% higher than levels in January 2022.

Okotoks
A major increase in inventory relative to what was on the market at the end of 2022 was prevented in January due to a slowdown in both sales and new listings compared to the same month last year. With only 56 units available, the market is more supplied than it was in January of last year, but this is still 61 percent below long-term trends for the area.

The market has remained tight, which has allowed prices to rise significantly over the previous few years. Prices did experience some more gains this month, despite the fact that recent changes have lessened the pressure on the rate of price growth.
The benchmark price increased from December to $539,000 in January, up by more than 12% year over year.