Calgary’s resale housing market is experiencing a great start to the new year with MLS sales and prices in January higher than they were a year ago.
The Calgary Real Estate Board website reported that, as of Thursday, MLS sales in the city of 581 are up 10.88 per cent compared with the same period in January last year. There are 61 pending sales which represent a hike of 12.96 per cent from 2019.
Demand in the Calgary market has been muted in the last few years as a result of a struggling economy that still feels the negative impact of the oil price collapse that began in late 2014. That economic driver for Alberta’s economy led to two years of recession in 2015 and 2016 as thousands of jobs were lost, particularly in the oilpatch and in downtown Calgary.
The economy has been improving but at a very slow and cautious pace.
Prices of homes sold so far in January have headed in a positive direction. The median MLS sale price of $400,000 has increased by 3.96 per cent from a year ago while the average sale price of $457,762 is up 2.62 per cent.
Another trend the housing market is showing these days is a decrease in inventory. In January, there have been 1,662 new listings which is a drop of 12.43 per cent from last year. And current active listings are down 9.37 per cent to 4,991.
It’s also taking less time to sell a home. In January, the average days on the market for a home to sell in Calgary was 67 which is down by 8.22 per cent from the 73 days during the same period of time in January 2019.
Mario Toneguzzi is a business reporter in Calgary.
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