In February residential sales totalled 1,836 units, representing the best February since 2014. In just a few months the Calgary market has caught fire, particularly in the detached segment with year-over-year benchmark prices jumping as much as 9% in some areas of the city.

“Despite continued COVID-19 restrictions, housing activity continues to improve. Much of the strong sales activity is expected to be driven by exceptionally low mortgage rates,” said CREB® chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “Confidence is also likely improving as vaccine rollouts are underway. Additionally, some of the worst fears concerning the energy sector are easing with recent gains in energy prices.” New listings also improved in February, but the gap between new listings and sales narrowed. This is causing the sales-to-new-listings ratio to rise to 65 per cent, keeping the months of supply well below three months. Conditions are far tighter in the detached sector of the market, especially for product priced below $600,000, where strong sellers’ market conditions are present with less than two months of supply. The market has faced relatively low inventory levels compared to sales for the past several months and prices continue to trend up. In February, the residential benchmark price rose over the previous month and currently sits four per cent above last years’ levels. Detached product has the lowest months of supply and is also exhibiting the most significant gains in prices. On the opposite end of the spectrum, the apartment condominium segment still has a relatively high level of inventory compared to sales, which is impacting price recovery for this property type.

As always, market conditions vary widely based on price, product type and location. For more information, or if you have any questions please don't hesitate to contact me!

Quick Stats

*Months of supply: The ratio between inventory and sales which represents the current pace of sales and how long it would take to clear existing inventory.

**Benchmark price: The monthly price of the typical home based on its attributes, providing the best measure of price trends.

What to do When Closing Dates Don't Match

If you want to sell your current property and purchase your next dream home, you might be wondering whether the closing dates need to be on the same day. 

You might even be worried that you’ll lose a property if the closing dates overlap, or you’ll be put out on the street if the dates are far apart! For the most part, these concerns are unfounded. Thousands of properties change hands every day and usually everything works out just fine. In fact, it’s amazing how often closing dates actually do match! But, what happens if the closing date of the home you want to buy is days or weeks earlier than the closing date of your own property? Most lenders anticipate this situation and offer something called “Bridge Financing.” It is a special loan that allows you to purchase the property with the earlier closing date. When your current property closes, the bridge financing ends and your new mortgage – if you need one – begins on the new home.