2008 June | Andrew Kyle's Blog - Calgary Real Estate

I’ve published my Market report for June. See below or click here: Market Report - June 2008

Market Report - June 3, 2008

by Andrew Kyle, B.ASc., Realtor

Now Is The Time To Buy!

I’m usually pretty conservative in my language in these market reports, but there is just no other way to describe the current market - “Now is the time to buy!” It is the best time to buy real estate in Calgary in many years. Home inventories are high, and buyers are reaping the benefits in the form of selection and being able to negotiate the best sale price and most favourable terms. If you have been thinking of buying but want to wait, what exactly are you waiting for?

The combined (houses and condos) Absorption Rate within Calgary city limits stands at 5.64, with houses being 5.47 and condos being 6.05 (See Charts A and A2 below - AR Trend). The very high absorption rate is something that we have not seen in Calgary in a very long time. Sales are down 32% in May 2008 from May 2007, while inventory at the end of the month is more than double what it was at the end of May 2008. The bottom line: there are far more properties for sale in Calgary than there are buyers to buy them - we are in the middle of a market correction.

Condos continue the trend of the last 6 months and are lagging behind Single Family (SF) houses. See the February Market Report for an explanation of why I think this is.

The average property sold in May was on the market 45 days (See Chart B - DOM Trend). Sellers should expect this number to continue to rise until the market corrects itself. The days when Calgary properties which were priced right sold in less than a month are gone for now.

The median price for one and two bedroom condos respectively is now $240k and $280k, down from $255k and $310k respectively in May 2007. For SF houses the median price is now $419k, a $16k decline from May 2007. (See Chart C - Median Price Trend) .