Resale Markets Rebound: Look In Chestermere
These are such promising times for new and experienced home buyers to purchase a home, or sell their home. Interest rates are great, housing prices have been rebounding for months.
I just read a great article on the CalgaryHerald.com about resale value.
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About 10,000 resale homes changed hands in and around Calgary from June to September — accounting for almost half of the forecast sales total for 2009, says a federal agency.
In all the years Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has been tracking the MLS market, this is only the third time that number has been reached in a four-month period.
The strength shown during that time followed a weak first quarter in which just 4,117 used homes were sold — a drop of 35 per cent from the previous year.
With one month left this year, senior market analyst Richard Cho is predicting a total of 23,150 sales of used homes through the Calgary Real Estate Board.
“With the resurgence in recent activity, sales in 2009 are on a pace to inch above the 2008 total of 23,136,” he recently told CMHC’s annual Housing Outlook Conference in Calgary.
The jump in sales is due more to low mortgage rates — along with pent-up demand from the latter parts of 2008 and early this year — than to any sharp rebound in economic growth or employment.
“Favourable mortgage rates and earlier price reductions have helped bring monthly carrying costs down and provided an opportunity for home ownership,” says Cho.
In the first eight months of this year, carrying costs for the average home went down 19 per cent from 2008.
As for prices, the average this year will likely slide below the $400,000 for the first time since 2006, marking the second consecutive annual decline.
The average price will likely stall at $384,500 before climbing back up to $403,000 in 2010, says CMHC.
So with the market calming down, the federal agency is looking at 2010 to provide about 25,500 transactions and a “more modest” rate of business.
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RESALE HOUSING
2006 2007 2008 2009 %change 2010 %change
- MLS Sales 33,027 32,176 23,136 23,150 0.1 25,500 10.2
- New Listings 44,725 54,202 56,187 41,500 -26.1 45,000 8.4
- Avg. Price $346,675 $414,066 $405,267 $384,500 -5.1 $403,000 4.8
Corinne Watson
Chestermere Realtor
cwatson@cirrealty.ca
403.921.SOLD
Sources: Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Calgary Real Estate Board, Article: Calgaryherald.com, Martin Hope
