PROS & CONS OF CALGARY’S HOT MARKET // REAL ESTATE
PROS & CONS OF CALGARY’S HOT MARKET GOOD NEWS AND CONCERNS
BY JOHN HARDY
J
ust as the sudden pandemic created a frenzied scramble in uncharted territory for researchers, health professionals and the world, the suddenly hot real estate market is creating an exciting and sometimes confusing scramble in uncharted territory for Calgary home buyers, sellers, builders and real estate professionals. While the hot market impacts both key segments of Calgary’s real estate market – new homes and re-sales – differently, both share the irresistibility of historic low interest rates as well as the effects of the 2021 version of the new, federal mortgage rules. Although some (primarily re-sale) factors make the Calgary real estate market unique, the phenomenon of a postpandemic hot market is certainly not limited to Calgary. According to CREA, the Canadian Real Estate Association, it’s an unexpected fluke from coast-to-coast and throughout
North America. CREA stats and numbers show that, nationally, Canada’s average home prices spiked by nearly 32 per cent (year over year), sales hit a new all-time record and the hot market is also happening in most parts of the U.S. “There was absolutely no chance we thought this would happen, certainly not to the levels that we have been tracking since the spring,” says the plugged-in Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist of the Calgary Real Estate Board. “It may already be settling down a bit but it continues to surprise me.” She explains that low interest rates get much of the credit – and blame – and are the primary cause of the hot market’s strong demand. “It dates back to the last half of 2020 and is fuelling into this year. Low discount rates that have brought people back into the market, as people were pushed out in 2018 and 2019, with some of the lowest sales per capita on record.
RIGHT: CHARRON UNGAR, CEO OF CALGARY’S HOMES BY AVI GROUP OF COMPANIES.
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AUGUST 2021 // BUSINESS IN CALGARY // BUSINESSINCALGARY.COM
