Calgary Real Estate News

MLS® REPORTS VARIETY IN THE REAL ESTATE MARKET IN MARCH 2008

April 1, 2008

Calgary’s MLS® listings for the month and for the fi rst quarter, indicate a wide variety of housing for potential buyers, according to fi gures released by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®).

Single family Calgary metro new listings added for the month of March totaled 3,493, an increase of 11.6 per cent from March 2007 when new listing added totaled 3,131 an increase of 17.2 per cent over last month, when new listings coming to the market were 2,981. At the end of the fi rst quarter, we have seen 9,497 listings new to the market, compared to the 7,661 new listings for the fi rst quarter of 2007, indicating a 24 per cent increase.

“We have moved into a market that is currently providing a great variety and choices for the buyer. Not only does the buyer have much better supply to choose from, they can also customize their wants and needs in a home, making for a dream home purchase,” remarked CREB® President, Ed Jensen.

Single family Calgary metro sales for the month of March came in at 1,418, showing a decrease of 37.6 per cent from the 2,272 sales in March 2007 but showing an increase of 13.3 per cent over last month’s sales of 1,252. Looking at the fi rst quarter sales for single family Calgary metro, we see that 3,747 homes have changed hands, compared to the 5,709 sales recorded in the fi rst quarter of 2007, indicating a 34.3 per cent decrease.

“Gone are the days of sellers naming their price; sellers have to pay much more attention to what their asking price will be and how they present their home to experience a quick sale,” explained Jensen. “Sellers should rely on their REALTOR® for help while deciding on a list price, your REALTOR® has an arsenal of tools at their disposal to analyze the market and fi nd a fair and reasonable price point for the seller.” “The average time a home is remaining on the market prior to selling is 40 days, but some are remaining on the market much longer and that may be due to overpricing and the extra inventory we are currently experiencing, one in fi ve homes are selling in today’s market, this is a great time for buyers to buy a home,” continued, Jensen.

Buyers need to know, that in today’s complex market, it is more important than ever that they call a realtor to assist them through the details of a purchase.

The median price of a single family Calgary metro home in March 2008 was $420,000 showing a very slight decrease of 1.6 percent over March 2007, when the median price was $427,000 and showing a 1.9 per cent decrease from last month when the median price was $428,000. Quarterly, the 2008 single family Calgary metro home median price also came in at $420,000, an increase of 2.5 per cent over the fi rst quarter median price of 409,900, for 2007. All Calgary Metro MLS® statistics include properties listed and sold only within Calgary’s City limits. The median price is the price that is midway between the least expensive and most expensive home sold in an area during a given period of time. During that time, half the buyers bought homes that cost more than the median price and half bought homes for less than the median price.

Calgary metro condominium new listings added in March 2008 were 1,561, showing an increase of 24.9 per cent from the 1,250 new condominium listings added in March 2007 and a 25.5 per cent increase over the 1,244 new condominium listings brought to market last month. New Condominium listings fi nding their way to the market in the fi rst three months of 2008 totaled 4,208, an increase of 33.9 percent over the 3,143 new listing brought to market in the fi rst quarter of 2007.

Condominium sales for the month of March were 565, a decrease of 44.9 per cent over the 1,026 condominium sales in March 2007 and an increase of just 0.5 percent over the 562 condominium sales changing hands in February. Quarterly, condominium sales were 1,577 for this year, a decrease of 40.6 per cent from the 2,656 condominium sales recorded in the fi rst three month of 2007.

The average price of a single family Calgary metro home in March 2008 was $474,513, showing a 1.1 per cent decrease from March 2007, when the average price was $479,914. The average price of a Calgary metro condominium was $312,620, showing a 0.1 per cent decrease from March 2007 when the average price was $312,280. Average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differentials between geographical areas.

For more information, please visit creb.com.