House prices and unit sales expected to increase in 2011
CALGARY, January 6, 2011 – The Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released today showed year-over-year price decreases for most housing types surveyed in Calgary.
Standard two-storey homes witnessed the largest year-over-year price decreases falling 5.3 per cent to $404,622. Prices for detached bungalows fell 4.9 per cent year-over-year to $392,167, while standard condominiums saw a decrease of 2.2 per cent to $250,311.
“Real estate activity in the Calgary market is down slightly year-over-year with average listings in all housing types selling slightly lower than asking price,” said Ted Zaharko, broker and owner of Royal LePage Foothills. “However, we witnessed multiple offers occurring in the market in the final quarter of 2010 as buyers began to realize that house prices aren’t going to continue to fall in 2011.”
According to Royal LePage Real Estate Services, the average house price in Calgary is expected to climb 5.4 per cent during 2011 – second only to Winnipeg, which is expected to see a 7 per cent increase in average price. Unit sales in Calgary are also expected to increase 6.7 per cent.
“With good interest rates, a strong economy and a rebounding energy sector, the trend in Calgary’s real estate market is expected to pick-up in both prices and the rate of sales,” added Zaharko.
Nationally, the average price of a home increased between 3.9 and 4.6 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2010, compared to the previous year, as markets shrugged off a lackluster third quarter and returned to a post-recession growth profile. Home values are forecast to continue a moderate and steady climb in many of the country’s key housing markets through 2011 with sales activity skewed to the first half of the year.
“Trends in the housing market continue to be driven by the lingering after-effects of the recession,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage Real Estate Services. “Canadians realize that interest rates are unsustainably low and that homes will become effectively more expensive when mortgage rates return to normal levels. We will likely see more price appreciation early in 2011 as some buyers complete transactions in advance of anticipated higher borrowing costs.”
Across Canada, the average price of a home is forecast to rise 3 per cent over the coming year to $348,600 while the number of transactions is expected to drop 2 per cent.
About the Royal LePage House Price Survey
The Royal LePage House Price Survey is the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind in Canada, with information on seven types of housing in over 250 neighbourhoods from coast to coast. This release references an abbreviated version of the survey, which highlights house price trends for the three most common types of housing in Canada in 80 communities across the country. A complete database of past and present surveys is available on the Royal LePage Web site at www.royallepage.ca. Current figures will be updated following the complete tabulation of the data for the fourth quarter 2010. A printable version of the fourth quarter 2010 survey will be available online on February 4th, 2010.
Housing values in the Royal LePage House Price Survey are Royal LePage opinions of fair market value in each location, based on local data and market knowledge provided by Royal LePage residential real estate experts. Historical data is available for some areas back to the early 1970s.
About Royal LePage
Serving Canadians since 1913, Royal LePage is the country’s leading provider of services to real estate brokerages, with a network of 14,000 real estate professionals in over 600 locations nationwide. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, dedicated to supporting women’s & children’s shelters and educational programs aimed at ending domestic violence. Royal LePage is a
Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. company, a TSX-listed corporation trading under the symbol TSX:BRE.