Real estate agents remain cautiously optimistic for Lethbridge's housing market

Lethbridge home prices are up from last year and prices are expected to continue to grow, experts say.

LETHBRIDGE -

After Lethbridge set a record in both homes sold and prices in which they sold for in 2022, some realtors are hoping for a repeat of last year’s trajectory, but supply chain issues may create challenges.

“We have some news coming from the Bank of Canada that interest rates are going to be rising probably three times through 2022, so our expectations are that that will cool things down somewhat, but not tremendously,” said owner of Atkinson Team Realty owner, Courtney Atkinson.

“The idea is that we can still keep strong sales through the year. Hoping to address some of the supply chain challenges that we’ve been having, while still having success in the real estate space.”

Atkinson says 2021 was the busiest year in real estate around Lethbridge that he's seen in the last 13 years, and believes the pandemic helped that.

“People haven't been travelling as much, they haven't been spending as much money on restaurants, and they've been really asking themselves, ‘Hey, how do I like my home space?’” Atkinson said.

“Do I need more of that? And really I think it comes down to nesting, wanting to be in a different space, feeling like they've got more room to work, and for all those folks who work at home, looking for that home office.”

And the stats back him up.

More than 2,300 homes were sold in Lethbridge and the surrounding area last year, a solid jump from 1,666 in 2020. According to the Lethbridge and District Association of Realtors, the total value of all homes sold was a record $1.1 billion.

As expected, the average cost of a home jumped from last year.

“The average price point in the Lethbridge District and Association of Realtors which encompasses a multitude of different communities has gone up to $315,000 from about $293,000, but if you look just in the city of Lethbridge, the average is about $335,000,” said Atkinson.

Atkinson says the current seller’s market creates an interesting landscape.

“There’s tight inventory, not a ton of new listings coming to market, and when they do, there’s tremendous buyer demand, and so typically you'll end up in competing offer situations or at the very least selling very close to asking price, if not above that,” said Atkinson.

Although the outlook for real estate is looking good, lingering supply issues could create construction and renovation challenges.

“Whether it’s electrical, mechanical, steel, wood, all those facets have been affected,” said Darren Guenther, Lethbridge construction association president.

“Not only in terms of extended delivery times, but certainly also prices. Prices are continuing to escalate, so it’s a challenge across the board. All signs seem to be pointing to that continuing.”

But with Alberta adding 130,000 jobs last year, and the economy continuing to turn around, local industry players hope it helps boost the real estate market too.