The Calgary Real Estate market for buyers, sellers, investors is certainly a strange place over the last couple months. Everyone thought that after all the deferrals were done there would be a flood of foreclosures. Are they still waiting in the wings? Could be, but the low inventory situation that we find Calgary in right now has created an atypical surge in sales.
Low interest rates and much higher than average savings in Canadian bank accounts due to pandemic lock downs have allowed many families to inadvertently save up a down payment! Now, not all sectors of real estate in Calgary are moving fast:
- Luxury homes are slow moving over 1.5M in most areas of Calgary – some areas of aspen have seen motivated sellers drop prices 100’s of thousands of dollars to get the homes sold
- Condo market for apartment style homes in the inner city has been a slow mover, with inventory here being far higher than demand.
- Older un-renovated homes under 1000sft which are normally sold to developers are slow to move because spec-home developers are being very cautious on their purchase prices for lots.
Single family and semi-detached homes are moving quick, also demand for half-duplexes with no condo fees has skyrocketed due in part for the buyer now seeing the possibility of adding a basement suite for having that extra revenue. I had a younger client recently tell me that that type of property would be great for his first home so that he could rent out the 2 suites when he decides to upgrade – what a smart young man! I wish I was thinking in those terms when I was younger, things would be very different now if that were the case.
We are seeing CS properties before I can get clients in to view them, properties going 50K over list price, and even private deals which we specialize in normally not having as much competition…we got outbid by a neighbor for a private seller of a lot I was working on selling to a builder contact of ours! Ouch – losing out on a private deal in a great location is not normal operating mechanics for Calgary real estate.
The stats won’t support this opinion, but I am seeing a balanced market at the moment in Calgary and if we don’t see a volume of inventory hit the market by spring when it gets warm and everyone wants to move….then we could have a seller’s market on our hands.
What do you do in a sellers market VS a buyers market? Good question – contact us and we are thrilled to help advise/answer questions on what could be the best strategy for your goals.
To your success,
Tim Reid
-Respect the hustle