Calgary could see record-breaking year for home sales in 2022: CREB

The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) says the city is on track to record a record year for home sales, even as the number of transactions in October fell 15 per cent from the year before.

"A lot of the decline in sales has been driven by detached homes,  so that's where we're seeing a lot less activity now," said CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. 

"Part of that is because there's not really a lot of supply in the lower price range. 

The Alberta board says October sales totalled 1,857, while year-to-date sales reached 26,823, a 13 per cent increase from this time last year.

Lurie says the numbers indicate conditions are tight, but not as tight as earlier in the year and not on par with other major Canadian cities, where there has been a significant pullback in demand.

"When we're seeing even sales fall, we're still performing better than what we were doing prior to COVID," said Lurie.

"I think that is one of the main differences in our market, versus some of the numbers that you're seeing coming out of other parts of the country."

The Calgary board found new listings in October totalled 2,175, a 13 per cent drop from the same time last year.

The benchmark price for the month was $523,900, up almost 10 per cent from a year earlier, while the average price of a home sold in October edged up five per cent to $509,576 compared with October last year.

Realtor Justin Havre, with Justin Havre & Associates Re/Max First, says although sales dropped last month overall, interest for buying and selling homes has been at one of the highest peaks he has seen.

"Alberta – and Calgary for that matter – is still a very affordable and desirable place to live," he said. 

Havre says he sold a Cougar Ridge home on Tuesday and expects to finish the year stronger than pre-pandemic levels. 

"If you have a property at the lower price point, you are pretty much going to sell very quickly because of the demand," said Havre. 

"Overall, we're seeing inventory with about 1,000 properties less available today than a year ago. Demand is still strong, but at the same time, we have a very, very tight supply."

Even though interest rates have skyrocketed across the country, Havre believes it will not deter everyone from wanting to buy a home in Calgary. 

"People can buy here and perhaps utilize the higher interest rate environment but then also refinance that, when the interest rates become more attractive again," said Havre. 

MOVING FROM TORONTO TO CALGARY

Krisham Singh and his wife Ansara Narine are moving to Calgary from Toronto. Krisham Singh and his wife Ansara Narine will own their own condo in the southeast community of Legacy as of Nov. 16. 

The new build was attractive to the couple, who are moving to Calgary from Toronto. 

"The quality of life and the time to spend with family and friends and for ourselves to explore more the things that we like," said Singh. 

"We just saw the great opportunity, or at least a leeway in terms of real estate, that we thought one of the main things that sort of occupies a person's time, is the roof over their head."

The couple say the place they bought was across the street from their sons who moved to Calgary in the last year. 

"We're at that point in our lives as well, where we want to be at a slower pace and we love it here because of that freedom to have more nature around us and more family." 

Narine and Singh say driving to the mountains was a very attractive reason for downsizing and moving to Calgary. 

They say Alberta offers a much more economic stability than Toronto. 

Narine says the Alberta is Calling campaign, funded by the province, is having an impact on people in Ontario. 

"A lot of people’s eyes are opening to that," she said. 

"I spoke to somebody from Fido, (to have) my number changed and that person, when I told them what we did, they said they are planning also to come."

With files from the Canadian Press