If you are buying, selling or investing in today's real estate market, The Calgary Real Estate Board (referred to by the acronym CREB®) is your second best resource--your first best resource being your real estate agent, Ken Richter.
CREB® provides helpful real estate market information that will keep you informed on things such as benchmark prices, inventory levels, long-term projections, year over year comparisons, end of month summaries, current activity, etc.. Their goal is to educate, making this a fantastic place to go for the latest information.
CREB® just released their summary of what happened in the real estate market in June 2018. Though they are optimist about the future, June, a month where they market typically thrives thanks to increased summer sales activity, was not a banner month for Calgary real estate. Why? CREB® blames that continuing struggle economically in the energy sector and the recent mortgage rules changes.
CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Laurie notes, "While our economy is no longer in a recession, persistently high unemployment rates, concerns over long-term growth, rising lending costs and stricter qualifications are all weighing on the housing demand. Growth in new listings is starting to ease for some property types, but it is not enough to prevent continued supply growth and, ultimately, an oversupplied housing market."
Here's a breakdown of what happened:
- Sales were weak in June, totaling just 1,896 units. This is 12% below long-term averages and 11% below last year's averages.
- Continued inventory gains means the average amount of time for a property to sit on the market is now 4.7 months
- High inventory and low sales have created a buyer's market, forcing prices down. The benchmark price for June was $436,500, 1.13% last year's levels.
CREB® president Tom Westcott notes, "in any market it's extremely important to be well-informed, whether it's about the process to get pre-approved for a mortgage or having the most up-to-date information about the prices in the community you are buying or selling in." Thankfully this is the easy part when you have Ken Richter and CREB® to help.
Have questions? Call Ken directly at 403.630.6363
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