Peter Kusch

Tel.: 403-990-7990

March 2020

HOME SALES SEE A BUMP

This month saw a double-digit gain in sales, but last February was one of the lowest levels of activity since the late ’90s.

With the extra day this February, monthly sales totalled 1,197 units. A combination of these two factors resulted in a 23% improvement over last year, but sales remain well below longer-term trends and consistent with the lower levels reported over the past five years.

The overall unadjusted benchmark price was $416,900 in February. This is similar to last month, but nearly 1% below last year’s levels. Overall, prices remain nearly 11% below the monthly high recorded in 2014.

Detached

After the first two months of the year, detached sales improved by nearly 12%. Improvement did not occur across all districts, as sales continued to ease in the City Centre, North East and North West districts.
Driven by pullbacks mostly in the south and west districts, new listings declined by 1% in the city so far this year.
Improving sales and easing new listings helped reduce inventory levels and reduced months of supply to just below four months in February. This is a significant improvement over the more than five months recorded last February.

The benchmark price continued to trend down this month for detached homes, but the pace of decline is easing. Citywide detached prices remain less than 1% lower than last year’s levels, but price movements vary significantly by district, ranging from a 3% decline in the City Centre to a 2% increase in the South district.

Apartment

For the second month in a row, improving sales were met with gains in new listings. This is causing inventory gains.
Sales levels were high enough to cause the months of supply to ease, but the persistent oversupply in the market continues to weigh on prices.
February benchmark price eased compared to the previous month and is over 2% lower than last year’s levels. The overall benchmark apartment price of $244,700 in February is nearly 19% lower than the 2014 monthly highs.

Attached

After the first two months of the year, rising attached sales and easing new listings caused inventories to decline.
February months of supply is now below five months, an improvement compared to the past two years.
Conditions continue to favour the buyer, but improvements have helped reduce the downward pressure on prices. However, divergent activity continues based on location, as prices declined across most districts, but improved in the West, South East and East districts of the city.

The average number of days on the market (Calgary Metro)

	Average days on the market in February 2020	Average days on the market in February 2019
Detached	53	63
Apartment	63	63
Attached	60	62

Attached category includes condominium townhouses and duplexes.

Median price (Calgary Metro)

	Median price in February 2020	Median price in February 2019	Percentage change
Detached	$465,000	$459,900	1.1%
Apartment	$242,500	$250,000	-3.0%
Attached	$330,000	$320,450	3.0%

The median price is where half sell for more and half for less.

Months of supply (Calgary Metro)

January 2015	5.31
February 2015	4.57
March 2015	3.19
April 2015	2.85
May 2015	2.44
June 2015	2.32
July 2015	2.53
August 2015	3.16
September 2015	3.85
October 2015	3.93
November 2015	4.21
December 2015	4.94
January 2016	6.57
February 2016	5.04
March 2016	3.83
April 2016	3.54
May 2016	3.20
June 2016	2.95
July 2016	3.26
August 2016	3.61
September 2016	3.97
October 2016	3.30
November 2016	4.06
December 2016	4.04
January 2017	4.36
February 2017	3.35
March 2017	2.71
April 2017	2.90
May 2017	2.95
June 2017	3.12
July 2017	4.12
August 2017	4.15
September 2017	4.71
October 2017	4.41
November 2017	4.03
December 2017	4.29
January 2018	4.83
February 2018	4.73
March 2018	4.64
April 2018	4.82
May 2018	4.91
June 2018	4.65
July 2018	5.46
August 2018	5.47
September 2018	6.28
October 2018	5.56
November 2018	5.55
December 2018	6.18
January 2019	6.81
February 2019	6.03
March 2019	4.96
April 2019	4.57
May 2019	3.89
June 2019	4.24
July 2019	4.36
August 2019	4.45
September 2019	5.02
October 2019	4.49
November 2019	5.05
December 2019	5.30
January 2020	5.87
February 2020	4.59

Source: Calgary Real Estate Board

Calgary Metro-within Calgary City Limits