August sees record-high sales amidst historic low inventory, pushing prices higher.
Detached
Record low inventory levels this month were primarily driven by pullbacks for homes priced under $700,000. While new listings did improve compared to last year, most of the growth was driven by homes priced over $700,000. August sales did improve over last year’s levels. However, limited supply in the lower price ranges has likely prevented stronger detached home sales.
Persistently tight conditions drove further price gains this month. As of August, the unadjusted benchmark price reached $696,700. Nearly one per cent higher than last month and over 10 per cent higher than last year's levels. The highest year-over-year price gains occurred in the most affordable regions of the city's North East and East districts.
Semi-Detached
The 236 new listings and 197 sales did little to change the low inventory situation. While inventory levels did remain comparable to last month, they are still 35 per cent below last year’s levels and at record lows for the month. Relatively strong sales combined with low inventory levels have given sellers the advantage.
With months of supply remaining exceptionally low throughout 2023, we continue to see upward pressure on home prices. As of August, the semi-detached unadjusted benchmark price reached $623,200, a monthly gain of one per cent and 10 per cent higher than last year. Price growth did range across each of the Calgary districts, but the strongest year-over-year gains were reported in the most affordable districts of the North East and East.
Row
The gain in new listings did little to offset the strong sales activity as the sales-to-new-listings ratio remained high at 94 per cent. This prevented any additions to the inventory and left the months of supply below one month for the fifth consecutive month.
The persistently tight conditions placed further upward pressure on home prices. In August, the unadjusted benchmark price reached $413,200, a monthly gain of over one per cent and nearly 16 per cent higher than levels reported last year. Year-over-year gains have occurred across all districts, ranging from 12 per cent in the North West to 29 per cent in the East district.
Apartment Condominium
August sales continue to rise over last month and last year’s levels. Recent gains have caused year-to-date sales to reach 5,582 units, nearly 22 per cent higher than last year’s levels and a new record high for the city. Tight rental markets and relative affordability have driven many purchasers to the apartment condominium sector. At the same time, new listings have struggled to keep pace as the sales-to-new-listings ratio bumped up to 98 per cent in August, causing inventories to ease and the months of supply to drop to one month.
The tight market conditions have been placing upward pressure on home prices, and as of August, the unadjusted benchmark price reached $309,100, a monthly gain of over one per cent and a year-over-year gain of over 13 per cent. The City Centre is the only district that did not report a monthly price gain, and prices are still below their previous highs in 2014. This is partly due to better supply/demand balances in the City Centre compared to other parts of the city.
Leave A Comment