Calgary sets new April record as benchmark price hits $550,800: CREB

It continues to be a sellers' market in Calgary as the number of homes on the market remains low.

The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) says the city set a new April record last month as the benchmark price of a home sold reached $550,800.

The board says that's a two per cent increase from March and a 1.2 per cent jump from a year ago.

The increase in the benchmark price came as the actual average price of a home sold in the city last month was $549,524, a roughly three per cent rise from a year ago.

The board says the number of sales dropped almost 21 per cent to 2,690 over the same period, leaving the market with tighter conditions than were seen earlier in the year and when compared with April.

New listings fell nearly 32 per cent since last April to 3,133.

Inventories went down 34 per cent compared to last year.

Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB’s chief economist, says these market conditions are partly driven by the boost of people coming to the province.

"Some very strong migration levels have really driven, you know, the stronger demand, and it's chewed up a lot of the supply, not just in the resale market, but on the new home side," she said.

Lurie says the low supply is creating a competitive situation for buyers.

"We are seeing, you know, more homes going over list price, so I think for any buyer, it's going to be important to know what segment of the market you're in," she said.

A Calgary Realtor echoes this and says buyers "feel like they’re swimming in shark-infested waters."

"We've seen a lot of our buyers coming in, going strong, wanting to get a property, they love it. It's sold before we're even quite viewing it and we've had that happen time and time again," said Christopher Audette, Realtor and founder of The Group at RE/MAX First.

Audette says sellers are also feeling the impact of low inventory.

"Sellers are faced with a spot where they're not wanting to list their homes until they find something, they're not finding something in order to list their homes. It's kind of really creating this catch 22 and pricing will not stabilize or decrease until we get the listing inventory back up," he said.

Audette recommends sellers wait to list their property until they've secured a new place.

He suggests buyers get their finances in order ahead of time and be prepared to act fast when they see something they like.

With files from The Canadian Press