Calgary brokers may have it tougher than their counterparts in other provinces over the coming months, as house prices are being driven up by a lack of inventory.
Calgary brokers may have it tougher than their counterparts in other provinces over the coming months, as house prices are being driven up by a lack of inventory.
“A sustained period of low housing inventory coupled with a healthy economy and an influx of corporate sector workers has pushed prices up further,” Ted Zaharko, broker/owner, Royal LePage Foothills said in the company’s quarterly statement. “For some time now too many homebuyers have been chasing too few properties.”
Due to the lack of houses available, first time buyers may be most affected.
“Buyers are acting very quickly when homes are put up for sale, which is leading to frequent multiple offer situations on all housing types,” Zaharko said. “The aggressiveness of buyers is making it very difficult for first-time buyers to break into the market.”
And according to the Real Estate juggernaut, the country was blind to a housing correction that took place over the past year, which included slowdowns in several markets.
“Canada experienced a significant housing market correction over the last four quarters that most in the nation missed entirely,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage. “Many regions experienced dramatic slowdowns in the number of homes trading hands, but news of double-digit unit sales declines went largely unnoticed, over-shadowed by a macabre fascination with the prospect of a U.S.-style home price collapse, which of course never transpired.”
House prices may have halted for a while, but they’re do to kick back up.
“Our over-heated real estate market of 2011 and early 2012 drove some to the sidelines,” Soper continued. “Home price appreciation ground to a halt for a year – a necessary breather and predictable market response.”
