Calgary Home Sales Update March 2021

Posted by Ray Riley on Monday, March 1, 2021 at 12:44 PM By Ray Riley / March 1, 2021 Comment

Sellers' market in February leads to rising prices

City of Calgary, March 1, 2021 –

With gains in every price range, residential sales activity in February totalled 1,836.

This reflects the best February since 2014.

“Despite continued COVID-19 restrictions, housing activity continues to improve. Much of the strong sales activity is expected to be driven by exceptionally low mortgage rates,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.

“Confidence is also likely improving as vaccine rollouts are underway. Additionally, some of the worst fears concerning the energy sector are easing with recent gains in energy prices.”

New listings also improved in February, but the gap between new listings and sales narrowed. This is causing the sales-to-new-listings ratio to rise to 65 per cent, keeping the months of supply well below three months.

Conditions are far tighter in the detached sector of the market, especially for product priced below $600,000, where strong sellers’ market conditions are present with less than two months of supply.

The market has faced relatively low inventory levels compared to sales for the past several months and prices continue to trend up. In February, the residential benchmark price rose over the previous month and currently sits four per cent above last years’ levels.

Detached product has the lowest months of supply and is also exhibiting the most significant gains in prices. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the apartment condominium segment still has a relatively high level of inventory compared to sales, which is impacting price recovery for this property type.

	No. of New Sales	No. of New Listings	Sale Price to List Price Ratio	Median Price	Average Price	Avg. Days on Market
Feb-21	1830	2858	98%	$440,000	$483,385	45
Jan-21	1207	2253	97%	$418,000	$471,049	57
Dec-20	1200	1173	97%	$403,250	$447,533	59
Nov-20	1438	1733	97%	$415,000	$455,897	55
Oct-20	1764	2470	97%	$420,000	$473,917	53
Sep-20	1718	2750	97%	$417,575	$466,549	54
Aug-20	1582	2599	97%	$415,150	$468,527	52
Jul-20	1833	3038	97%	$420,000	$466,155	53
Jun-20	1763	3347	97%	$410,000	$460,099	55
May-20	1077	2422	96%	$401,000	$439,470	60
Apr-20	570	1425	96%	$393,750	$423,506	55
Mar-20	1174	2420	97%	$410,000	$448,130	52

HOUSING MARKET FACTS

Detached

Detached sales improved across every price range this month, but the lack of choice in the lower price ranges likely placed limits on the gains in sales.

New listings did rise, but it was not enough to prevent further tightening in the market, as the sales-to-new-listings ratio rose to 71 per cent and the months of supply fell to under two months. This is the lowest months of supply recorded in February since 2007.

Tighter market conditions occurred across all price ranges, but properties priced below $600,000 saw the months of supply fall to just above one month. These conditions are supporting significant price gains in the detached sector, which recorded a February benchmark price of $502,500. This is nearly two per cent higher than last month and five per cent higher than last year. It is also the first time since 2018 detached prices have risen above $500,000, and currently sits under five per cent below previous highs recorded in 2014.

Prices increased compared to last month and last year in every district of the city. However, the magnitude of those increases varied, with the largest year-over-year gains occurring in the South East district at nine per cent, and the lowest gains occurring in the City Centre at under two per cent.

	No. of New Sales	No. of New Listings	Sale Price to List Price Ratio	Median Price	Average Price	Avg. Days on Market
Feb-21	1115	1573	99%	$511,000	$569,747	37
Jan-21	729	1114	97%	$482,000	$559,792	53
Dec-20	716	600	97%	$458,700	$532,881	54
Nov-20	881	893	97%	$476,500	$536,878	51
Oct-20	1134	1325	97%	$478,250	$552,776	47
Sep-20	1050	1479	97%	$477,750	$546,429	50
Aug-20	989	1480	97%	$474,500	$549,815	46
Jul-20	1171	1665	97%	$480,000	$543,999	49
Jun-20	1106	1901	97%	$472,124	$538,569	51
May-20	675	1364	96%	$460,000	$513,289	54
Apr-20	339	784	96%	$450,000	$499,026	49
Mar-20	693	1348	97%	$470,000	$534,141	47

Semi-Detached

Semi-detached sales in February recorded significant gains, pushing sales activity to the highest February levels seen in nearly 13 years. However, like the detached sector, the improvements in new listings were not enough to offset sales, ensuring this sector continues to favour the seller.

With lower levels of supply relative to sales, benchmark prices improved over both last year and last month. However, this was not consistent across all districts. The West district continues to see prices that remain over two per cent lower than last year’s levels. The strongest year-over-year price gains were reported in the South East and North districts.

	No. of New Sales	No. of New Listings	Sale Price to List Price Ratio	Median Price	Average Price	Avg. Days on Market
Feb-21	180	253	98%	$462,500	$522,070	41
Jan-21	141	212	97%	$387,500	$477,497	59
Dec-20	127	118	97%	$370,000	$454,596	61
Nov-20	153	165	97%	$390,000	$468,346	61
Oct-20	174	237	97%	$373,938	$459,896	56
Sep-20	153	279	97%	$401,500	$477,593	53
Aug-20	142	241	97%	$416,750	$495,667	65
Jul-20	201	288	97%	$365,086	$438,631	61
Jun-20	185	300	97%	$365,000	$433,494	60
May-20	127	249	96%	$349,900	$426,824	71
Apr-20	60	167	96%	$354,950	$435,818	59
Mar-20	115	248	96%	$408,000	$466,904	64

Row

Despite a significant increase in new listings, improving sales offset the gains and the months of supply fell to three months.

Conditions for row properties are not as tight as what we have seen in both the detached and semi-detached sectors. However, they do reflect an improvement relative to the oversupplied conditions recorded last year. However, when considering activity by price range, pockets of oversupply persist in this market.

Citywide reductions in inventory relative to sales supported some price improvements in this segment. The benchmark price trended up from last month and currently sits just over one per cent higher than last year’s levels. Year-over-year gains did not occur across all districts, as prices remain lower than last year’s levels in the North, North West, South and South East districts.

	No. of New Sales	No. of New Listings	Sale Price to List Price Ratio	Median Price	Average Price	Avg. Days on Market
Feb-21	258	452	97%	$300,000	$326,171	54
Jan-21	150	373	97%	$290,000	$302,394	67
Dec-20	169	167	96%	$268,000	$301,614	67
Nov-20	191	262	97%	$287,500	$312,655	60
Oct-20	216	339	97%	$283,500	$316,214	64
Sep-20	256	399	97%	$290,000	$329,129	61
Aug-20	217	370	97%	$288,500	$307,542	60
Jul-20	201	429	96%	$290,000	$305,885	49
Jun-20	243	476	96%	$282,000	$305,710	58
May-20	144	360	96%	$273,000	$283,752	70
Apr-20	78	218	95%	$284,500	$301,417	67
Mar-20	153	353	96%	$295,000	$307,924	56

Apartment Condominium

Driven by product priced mostly under $300,000, apartment condominium sales improved to best February levels recorded over the past six years.

However, the gain in sales was not enough to cause any significant changes in inventory levels. February inventory remained elevated compared to levels we typically see at this time of year.

While the months of supply has trended down in this sector, it remains above five months. This is preventing the same type of price recovery seen in other sectors. On a year-to-date basis, the benchmark price remains similar to levels recorded last year.

	No. of New Sales	No. of New Listings	Sale Price to List Price Ratio	Median Price	Average Price	Avg. Days on Market
Feb-21	272	573	96%	$238,000	$252,638	70
Jan-21	187	552	96%	$220,000	$268,423	65
Dec-20	185	288	95%	$212,500	$245,449	73
Nov-20	210	409	95%	$215,000	$235,219	66
Oct-20	233	562	95%	$224,210	$241,970	67
Sep-20	242	586	95%	$229,000	$258,779	67
Aug-20	223	497	96%	$228,000	$251,339	62
Jul-20	263	650	95%	$238,600	$261,609	70
Jun-20	232	672	95%	$219,250	$264,352	73
May-20	135	450	94%	$213,000	$237,921	67
Apr-20	95	258	95%	$228,000	$245,013	64
Mar-20	218	476	96%	$230,000	$258,286	58

REGIONAL MARKET FACTS

Airdrie

February sales reached new record highs for the month.

The largest gain in sales occurred in the $400,000 - $500,000 price range. New listings also increased, but the sales-to-new listings ratio remained elevated at 71 per cent and the months of supply dropped to under two months in February. This is the tightest level seen since 2014.

Persistent sellers’ market conditions have resulted in further price gains in the market. The benchmark price has trended up for the past eight months and, as of February, it is over seven per cent higher than last year’s levels. Most of the price growth has been driven by the detached sector.

Cochrane

Cochrane sales more than doubled compared to last February. This represents the strongest February ever recorded for the town.

New listings also rose for the month, but it was not enough to cause any substantial change in inventory levels and the months of supply fell to below two months. This is the lowest months of supply for February seen since the record low in 2006.

Tight conditions supported price growth in February, as the benchmark price rose to $413,700, a four per cent increase from last year’s levels.

Okotoks

New listings have been trending up from the lows seen at the end of 2020, helping to support a significant improvement in sales in February. February sales reach levels not seen for the month since the record high in 2007.

Inventory levels remain exceptionally low relative to sales and the months of supply dropped below two months. Like other towns around Calgary, the sellers’ market conditions caused prices to trend up. In February, the benchmark price reached $442,600, nearly five per cent higher than levels recorded last year.