Pace of new listings growth slows, preventing further inventory gains
Inventory levels eased over last month thanks to the combined impact of a monthly pullback in new listings and a monthly pick up in sales.
With 6,471 units in inventory and 1,885 sales the October months of supply returned to three-and-a-half months after pushing up to four months in September. While both row and apartment-style properties continue to report elevated supply levels compared to demand, conditions remain relatively balanced for both detached and semi-detached properties.
Year-to-date sales in the city totalled 20,082, down nearly 16 percent compared to last year, but still in line with longer-term trends. Much of the decline in sales has been driven by pullbacks for apartment and row-style homes.
“Improved rental supply and easing rents have slowed ownership demand for apartment and row-style homes. It is also these segments of the market that have seen October inventories reach a record high for the month,” said Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB®’s Chief Economist. “Excess supply for apartment and row-style properties is weighing on prices in those segments more so than any other property type, influencing total residential prices.”
As of October, the total unadjusted residential benchmark price in Calgary was $568,000, down nearly one percent compared to last month and over four percent lower than last year’s levels. The largest price adjustments occurred for row and apartment-style properties where prices have eased by a respective six and seven percent compared to last October.
DETACHED
October sales reached 1,012 units, an improvement over last month, but still five percent lower than last year’s levels. At the same time there were 1,593 new listings that came onto the market, causing the sales-to-new-listings ratio to rise to 64 percent and inventories to trend down over last month to 2,913. Inventory levels remained slightly higher than long-term trends for the month, but with just under three months of supply, conditions remain relatively balanced and far better than conditions reported during the 2015 to 2019 period.
Despite relatively balanced conditions, there are pockets of the market that are experiencing buyer’s market conditions, which is impacting prices. Citywide detached benchmark prices eased to $744,400 in October, one percent lower than last year. However, price adjustments ranged from a year-over-year gain of nearly two percent in the City Centre to a decline of over five percent in the North East district. Despite recent adjustments, year-to-date prices remain over one percent higher than last year.
SEMI-DETACHED
Sales improved over last month while new listings slowed, causing the sales-to-new-listing ratio to rise to 57 percent, which is slightly lower than typical levels for this time of year, but high enough to prevent any significant change in inventory levels compared to last month.
With 186 sales and 613 units in inventory, the months of supply was over three months, higher than last year’s extremely low levels, but lower than last month. More inventory choice has weighed on prices over the past several months. However, with an October benchmark price of $683,100, prices remain nearly one percent higher than last year and on a year-to-date basis are over three percent higher than last year.
ROW
With 275 sales in October, year-to-date row sales totalled 3,412 units, a 17 percent decline over last year. While row sales remain well above long-term trends, new listings have been on the rise and reached record highs so far this year. As of October, there were 1,054 units in inventory, the highest ever reported for the month and nearly 32 percent higher than long-term averages. This also caused the months of supply to remain around four months.
The additional supply choice has weighed on prices. The October benchmark price was $431,200, over one percent lower than last month and nearly six percent lower than prices reported last year at this time. The steady slide in row prices have caused year-to-date prices to drop by one-and-a-half percent. Price adjustments did vary across the city with the largest year-to-date declines occurring in the North East and North districts.
CONDOS
The pullback in new listings relative to sales this month did help prevent further gains in inventory levels. However, with 1,891 units in inventory and 412 sales, the months of supply remained elevated at nearly five months. Apartment condominiums have been experiencing buyer’s market conditions for nearly 6 months, placing downward pressure on prices. As of October, the benchmark price was $318,200, down over one percent compared to last month, and nearly seven percent lower than last October.
On a year-to-date basis, prices are nearly two percent lower than last year’s levels. The largest year-to-date price declines occurred in the North East and South East districts at four percent, as those districts are either reporting the highest months of supply on the resale market or are facing significant competition from the new home market.
