Shrinking inventory hurt June home sales in Edmonton while Calgary’s resale market maintained a steady pace.
The Edmonton Real Estate Board said the market is finally reacting to the lower inventory. “Pent-up demand in the marketplace resulted in a surge over the past few months,” said EREB president Ken Shearer.
“Activity is levelling out now, due in part to the reduced inventory available.”
Inventory should bounce back when new home buyers put their current houses on the market as they take possession of their new properties, he says.
Edmonton’s residential inventory at the end of June was 2,519, down 859 units from 2001. Sales in June were 1,386, down 13.5 per cent from last year.
Demand for more expensive housing in the capital gave 40 per cent of the market to units priced over $160,000, a rise of 11 percentage points from a year ago. The average selling price was $155,265, up 15.5 per cent. The average for single detached homes was $176,564, up almost 17 per cent. The median price was $163,600.
Calgary enjoyed a busy market but not a record in June, says Joyce Travis, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board.
Prices are up 11 per cent from last June. A house that cost $150,000 last Christmas would now be about $165,000.
The average residential price in Calgary was $203,148, down 0.2 per cent from $203,499 in May. It is 11 per cent more than last June’s $183,047. The average price of a single-family house was $220,148.
The median price of a residence was $185,000, up slightly from $184,500 in May.
Residential sales in June were 2,069, down from last June’s 2,138. There were 1,572 detached homes, 479 condos sand 18 mobile homes sold.
