Calgary (Rajeev Sharma): Calgary’s housing inventory has reverted to pre-pandemic levels, driven by a substantial increase in supply last month, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board. Most of the growth has been led by homes built in newer communities, which have raised the number of available units to nearly 7,000. This amounts to 3.3 months of supply, an 88 per cent increase compared to last year.
The rise in supply coincided with a drop in sales, which fell by 12 per cent to 2,099. Detached homes dominated in sales with more than 1,000 transactions. New listings, meanwhile, reached 3,911 units. The climb has lowered the city’s benchmark price to $582,900, a decline of 3.9 per cent from last year and 0.6 per cent from the previous month. The type of houses that saw the steepest decrease in price was apartment units, which now cost almost five per cent less than last year. That type of dwelling is reporting over four months of supply, the highest across the board.
The rate is followed by row houses, whose price fell by 3.9 per cent, and detached homes which lost 0.8 per cent in value. Semi-detached homes, meanwhile, have been an outlier, as their prices have risen by 1.4 per cent.
Regarding bedroom communities, in Airdrie, higher supply pulled prices down for the second consecutive month in June. The benchmark price that month was $538,300, nearly three per cent lower than last year. In Cochrane, sales for detached and semi-detached housing rose in June, while apartments and row houses didn’t sell nearly as well. As of last month, the unadjusted benchmark price was $593,700, nearly one per cent higher than last month and four per cent higher than last June.
Meanwhile, in Okotoks, housing starts and sales both fell, preventing prices from falling in the short run. The benchmark price in June was similar to the month before, but was three per cent higher than last year.
Higher supply has also led to a decline in rents. According to Rentals.ca, rents for a one-bedroom apartment fell by 8.2 per cent to $1,650 in May from the previous year.
