LANEWAY HOUSING
Transit Communities Feature
Local seniors groups encouraged by project
Developers respond to buyers’ shifting needs
INDUSTRY A8
Patti Beaudry
1997 CREB® President
A9
A5
FREE june 3 to june 9 2016 issue 06-21 editorial 403-781-1324 advertising 403-263-4940 crebnow@creb.ca
real estate news from industry experts
COOL RUNNINGS
NEW LISTINGS
SALES
2,186 MAY 2015
MAY 2015
MAY 2016 (+14%)
MAY 2016 (+5%)
5,393 1,923
CREB® STAFF
MAY 2016 (-12%)
C
6,148
3,168 3,319
Supply gains contribute to inventory rise in soft housing market: CREB®
algary’s residential resale housing market continued to exhibit signs of softness last month, according to CREB®. The real estate board noted in its most recent housing summary that inventory levels continued to rise in May due to an increase in new listings and decrease in sales. As a result, the benchmark price in the city decreased for the eighth consecutive month to $439,700. May’s price represents a 0.3 per cent decline from last month, and four per cent from last year. “While recent oil price gains may have some feeling optimistic, weakness in the labour market continues to impact housing demand,” said CREB® chief economist AnnMarie Lurie. “Job losses are spreading into other sectors, wages are declining and unemployment levels remain high. At the same time, we’re seeing housing supply levels rise in the rental, new home and resale markets.” Sales for the month totalled 1,923 units, a 12 per cent drop from May 2015. New listings, meanwhile, continued to increase, rising by five per cent to 3,319 units. Combined with slower sales, inventory levels ended the month up by 14 per cent to 6,148 units. CREB® noted every product type experienced inventory gains, but the
ACTIVE INVENTORY
largest growth was in the apartment and attached categories. Together, these sectors represent half of all resale inventories in Calgary. Apartment inventory jumped by 23 per cent from last year to 1,608 units in May. Contributing factors included a 23 per cent decline in sales for the month to 275 units and a 12 per cent increase in listings to 686. Oversupply in the sector forced the benchmark price down to $278,500, 0.7 per cent off last month and 5.6 per cent lower than the same period in 2015. CREB® noted the apartment sector has experienced buyers’ conditions for 10 months, so the impact on pricing is more dramatic, compared to the detached and attached sectors. “The resale apartment market has been the most difficult for sellers,” said CREB® president Cliff Stevenson. “They are competing with improved selection in the lower price ranges of the detached and attached markets, and facing increased competition from the new home sector, where builders are offering incentives to attract potential buyers.” While apartment resale supply remains 22 per cent below the May high of 2,055 units in 2008, the combination of rising supply in the apartment sector and steep declines in sales activity elevated months of supply to over six months, added CREB®.
MAY 2015
STATISTICS A3
CITY APPROVES CONTENTS NEWS BRIEFS CURBSIDE FIVE THINGS COMPOSTING
2945
CITY OF CALGARY
MLS® TOTAL SALES* MAY ‘14 – MAY ‘16
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A3
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
A4
1923
1764
1588 763
MAY14 JUN14 JUL14 AUG14 SEP14 OCT14 NOV14 DEC14 JAN15 FEB15 MAR15 APR15 MAY15 JUN15 JUL15 AUG15 SEP15 OCT15 NOV15 DEC15 JAN16 FEB16 MAR16 APR16 MAY16
879
1127
1263
1421
880
1082
1217
1448
1643
1995
2184
2190 1782
1779
1957
2145
2146
CREB® STAFF
2263
2328
2664
Housing market health
*All statistics based on monthly data compiled by CREB® via MLS® activity. Includes detached, attached and apartment.
MUNICIPAL. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 Brokerage closures
S
tarting next year, Calgarians will be able to toss their table scraps to someone other than the family dog. The City of Calgary made it official this week after announcing it will roll out a citywide curbside composting program in 2017. Waste from the green bins, which will be picked up for a mandatory monthly cost of $6.50, will be sent to the City’s new $143-million organics and biosolids processing facility and an adjacent $25-million “resource recovery campus” near the Shepard Landfill in southeast Calgary.
WEEKLY FEED. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 EVENT LISTING. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A6 INDUSTRY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . A7 Housing indicators
MAP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B1 OPEN HOUSES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B19 MORTGAGE RATES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . B19
MUNICIPAL A3
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124 East Chestermere Dr. C4062547
C4047020
Just 5 miles from the Calgary limit and 30 minutes to downtown. You can enjoy lakefront living everyday! Choose this 1917 sq. ft. lakefront bungalow with developed walkout and triple garage on 70’ wide lot for $1,079,000. Want to build new? We have a 50 x 298’ deep lakefront lot for $599,900. Chestermere lake is a 750 acre lake that you can waterski, sail, fish and swim in. Chestermere has a population of near 20,000 with great schools, recreation programs, and services. In all the years of selling homes on Chestermere Lake, when we ask people if it is as good as we told them it would be, they always say it is so much better than they imagined it would be. We would love to introduce you to our lake! Please call us on our direct line 403-975-1776.
Learn more at www.ChestermereRealEstate.com/waterfront
Marjorie and Doug McKay Resident Lakefront Specialists since 1992 . We have helped 100’s of families find their lakefront home. Let us help you determine if Chestermere is right for you!