Calgary Real Estate Market Update - April 2023

MAY 1, 2023

Prices rise to a new record level.

Home prices were under additional upward pressure in April as a result of the ongoing seller’s market. After four months of consistent increases, the overall unadjusted benchmark price increased to $550,800, a new monthly high for the city and about 2% higher than last month.

“While sales activity is performing as expected, the steeper pullback in new listings has ensured that supply levels remain low,” said CREB® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “The limited supply choice is causing more buyers to place offers above the list price, contributing to the stronger than expected gains in home prices.”

In April, there were 3,133 new listings compared to 2,690 units sold. Inventory levels dropped 34% from the previous year and are over 46% below long-term norms for April, with a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 86%.

While sales have decreased by 21% from last year, the months of supply have decreased to just over one month due to the sharp decline in supply. This reflects tighter market circumstances compared to conditions observed in April of last year and early this year.

Detached

The number of new listings has decreased in the detached market across all price points, with houses under $70,000 seeing the biggest drops. Sales were down significantly more than new listings were down, which increased the sale-to-new listings ratio to 88% and decreased the months of supply to just over one month, which was tighter than both last year and last month.

The ongoing tight market conditions have fueled more price increases. The detached benchmark price hit a new high of $661,900 in April. With the exception of the City Centre, every neighbourhood reported new high prices in April. The only district with more than two months of supply was the City Centre. The most inexpensive East district had the biggest price increase, up 6% year over year.

Semi Detached

The sales to new listings ratio increased to 89 percent in April with 234 transactions and 264 new listings. As a result, inventory levels continued to drop and are now at their lowest point in April since 2007. It is not surprising to see greater price growth given that conditions are tighter than they were last year.

The unadjusted benchmark price in April rose to a new high of $593,200, representing a 2% increase over both the previous month’s and previous year’s prices. All districts set new records for pricing this month, while the most inexpensive North East and East districts saw the biggest increases.

Row

The market conditions for row properties were the tightest in April, with a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 95% and a month’s supply or less. Although row sales have decreased from their record high of last April, they are still far above long-term trends with 416 sales. The high demand in this industry has been maintained by relative affordability. However, home prices are under a lot of pressure due to the persistently tight market conditions.

After four straight months of increases, the benchmark price hit a new record high of $387,400, roughly 7% over the previous year. The most inexpensive regions of the North East, East, and South experienced the steepest price growth, similar to other places.

Apartment Condominium

The apartment condominium sector was the only one to see sales activity increase over last year’s levels in April thanks to an increase in new listings. Inventory levels did increase over the previous month thanks to 953 new listings and 734 sales, but they were still below the levels seen at this time last year. Conditions are not as tight as other property types in the city, with a sales-to-new-listings ratio of 77% and a months’ supply of 1.5. Although prices have been rising, this still reflects the market conditions for sellers.

The unadjusted benchmark price increased by almost 10% from last April to $299,400 as of April, a notable increase over the $277,600 reported at the beginning of the year. Prices have risen for four straight months, but they are currently slightly below the previous high from 2014. The North, North West, and South East reported new highs in April, despite the fact that price increases across all districts have not led to a new city-wide record.

Regional Market Facts

Airdrie

The sale-to-new listings ratio once again pushed close to 100% in April, despite an upward trend in sales compared to the previous month. Inventories also dropped to their lowest April level since 2007. With a month’s supply, conditions are still in the seller’s favour even though they are not as tight as they were in April of last year.

Demand outstripped supply, which put increased pressure on property prices compared to earlier this year. The benchmark price was $502,000 as of April, up from the $480,200 reported in January but still about 2% below the all-time high of $510,700 set in that same month in 2022.

Cochrane

April’s sales to new listings ratio increased to 98 percent with 114 transactions and 116 new listings. With almost all new listings selling, inventories are still greater than what was reported in the market last year, but they have trended lower over levels observed earlier in the year. The months of supply fell to just over one month with only 142 units available, assuring that the market would continue to favour the seller.

The benchmark price increased for the third straight month due to once again challenging market conditions, reaching $509,600 in April. Nevertheless, despite the monthly increases, prices are still almost 2% below April of last year and the peak price of $522,600 reached in June.

Okotoks

With some monthly advances in inventory levels, both sales and new listings trended upward in April compared to levels recorded earlier in the year. With only 67 units available, inventory levels are 66% below monthly long-term trends and represent the lowest April since 2006.

With a supply of just over one month, which has remained stable for the previous three months, housing prices in the area have continued to rise. The unadjusted benchmark price as of April was $577,300, a new high and an increase of about 5% from the same month previous year.