Single-family home prices falling the fastest in Calgary, down $36K from last year

City saw largest annual decline among 11 metropolitan areas in February, according to national study

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/calga...creb-1.5054471

Real estate prices continue to fall in Calgary, with single-family homes leading the plunge.

The median selling price for a detached house so far this year has been $456,375, according to daily sales statistics compiled by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB).

That's down 7.3 per cent — or more than $36,000 — compared with the same time last year.

This really is only a problem is a) you are selling AND b) you are moving to a different market. Makes no difference to people staying in their homes or anyone moving within the Calgary market. Actually, that's not true, it's a GREAT thing for anyone who has the financial ability to upgrade their home substantially. I did that in the last major down market in 2009 and it worked out great for me.

We've seen a lot of houses in our area (Sage Hill far NW) being sold over the past year. When I look at the listings, you can definitely get a much better house for the same price or lower compared to 5 years ago.

Obviously the only other thing is that you're also selling for less but for any prospective new property owners, this is a great opportunity.

Wife and I really want to pick up another property for when/if our economy recovers and people come back to Alberta for work.

It's overdue, to be honest. The fundamentals in Calgary's economy over the last few years certainly don't support boom time price levels. I decided not to move back and buy in Calgary last spring due to the market conditions, prices were still high and actual sales volume was sluggish.

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Originally Posted by rx7boi

Wife and I really want to pick up another property for when/if our economy recovers and people come back to Alberta for work.

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You might have to wait a decade for this.

I can definitely believe that, based on the way things are going.

Was hoping to upgrade but realized all I really want is more garage space but not a bigger home. Gonna stick with what I have.

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

This really is only a problem is a) you are selling AND b) you are moving to a different market. Makes no difference to people staying in their homes or anyone moving within the Calgary market. Actually, that's not true, it's a GREAT thing for anyone who has the financial ability to upgrade their home substantially. I did that in the last major down market in 2009 and it worked out great for me.

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Wanna try again?

https://www.royallepage.ca/en/proper...4/mlsc4211415/

This is a good time to build up on that real estate portfolio and hold them for long term to get the return down the line. Until then, no harm in building up a nice collection of condo's and homes. I have also been focussing on the commercial side but those aren't as dramatically affected from what I can tell. The million plus market isn't impacted as much either as the people looking at those homes have the means to not be bothered by the recession. That market is always somewhat slow in general as at that price range people get quite picky.

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Originally Posted by Xtrema

Wanna try again? https://www.royallepage.ca/en/proper...4/mlsc4211415/

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Okay house, but gross location. #innercity4lyfebro.

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Originally Posted by Xtrema

Wanna try again?

https://www.royallepage.ca/en/proper...4/mlsc4211415/

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

Okay house, but gross location. #innercity4lyfebro.

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Yeah, that location is not great. My wife and I will move to springbank/elbow valley if we stay in Calgary in the long term, but never to that community. No trees, limited mountain views, neighbours are close together, and a handful of half built/abandoned houses. It's got all of the downsides of Springbank with none of the upsides.

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Originally Posted by shakalaka

This is a good time to build up on that real estate portfolio and hold them for long term to get the return down the line. Until then, no harm in building up a nice collection of condo's and homes. I have also been focussing on the commercial side but those aren't as dramatically affected from what I can tell. The million plus market isn't impacted as much either as the people looking at those homes have the means to not be bothered by the recession. That market is always somewhat slow in general as at that price range people get quite picky.

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You're either looking at the Edmonton market or in different areas in Calgary than I am.

I've been sitting on the sidelines for a while now and what I've been seeing is LOTS of higher end homes being on the market for 6-12 month (sometimes much, much longer). There are many homes that have (or had) been on the market for a very extended period and have had their prices drop by 20-35% or simply just been taken off the market. You're right, in this part of the market, many have means and perhaps aren't personally affected by the recession, but aren't too keen on taking the kind of bath they'd need to in order to sell their property.

The same is true for land or redevelopment parcels, which continue to be soft. I would expect many sellers in this segment of the market to kiss the ground if they could sell a property with only a 7% YoY drop...

Anyone have a good sense for how bad the bottom of the market was hit? We will be selling a cheap place (~$250K) and moving into ~$700K. Obviously we should still come out well ahead when upgrading in a weak environment, but how bad are the hits on the "cheap" properties?

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Originally Posted by Mitsu3000gt

Anyone have a good sense for how bad the bottom of the market was hit? We will be selling a cheap place (~$250K) and moving into ~$700K. Obviously we should still come out well ahead when upgrading in a weak environment, but how bad are the hits on the "cheap" properties?

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I'd expect pretty small hits on the low end of the market. But that upgrade plan is very smart right now.

I don't think it's a given that market starts to recover anytime soon. Possible recession talks in Canada and around the world. Things can get a lot worse and housing is still very overvalued IMO. The way I see it housing will not do well as an investment or could get cheaper if you're just looking to upgrade regardless of how you see things playing out. If we get an actual recession then it will affect peoples ability to buy & pay mortgages although I think the shock here will be limited given our housing really wasn't affected much through 2009/2010. The worse scenario would be if things hummed along and we get wage growth which leads to inflation and higher interest rates. Rates act as gravity on all investment classes including housing. The way that people have leveraged up on historically low rates will have major consequences.

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Originally Posted by ExtraSlow

This really is only a problem is a) you are selling AND b) you are moving to a different market. Makes no difference to people staying in their homes or anyone moving within the Calgary market. Actually, that's not true, it's a GREAT thing for anyone who has the financial ability to upgrade their home substantially. I did that in the last major down market in 2009 and it worked out great for me.

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I'm in this boat. Moving to the US later this year. The good thing is even though the prices are falling I got my house on a good deal so I should still come out ahead.

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Originally Posted by rx7boi

We've seen a lot of houses in our area (Sage Hill far NW) being sold over the past year. When I look at the listings, you can definitely get a much better house for the same price or lower compared to 5 years ago.

Obviously the only other thing is that you're also selling for less but for any prospective new property owners, this is a great opportunity.

Wife and I really want to pick up another property for when/if our economy recovers and people come back to Alberta for work.

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It seems to be hit/miss. I've been keeping an eye out as well, I would like to move before those condos start construction on sage valley blvd and sage hill drive :thumbsdow

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Originally Posted by Asian_defender

It seems to be hit/miss. I've been keeping an eye out as well, I would like to move before those condos start construction on sage valley blvd and sage hill drive :thumbsdow

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Which area are you in right now? I've been in Sage Valley Circle since late 2014.

I'm not sure how these new builds impact pricing but it's basically been nonstop since Emerald Sky was put up several years back. Then came all those condos/townhomes on Symons Valley Parkway, Sage Place, then Sage Bluff and now we have Glacier Ridge in the works.

I miss the days when the only traffic lights on Shag were the ones outside CityMarket :rofl:

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Originally Posted by Sugarphreak

Looks like getting out ended up being a good plan. Even with the wage difference in Van I am way ahead for now.

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I assume you don't own property in the Lower Mainland, correct? That market is going into quite the downward spiral.