Richard & Liz Bergeron

Calgary’s Real Estate Specialists

Richard's Cell: 403-819-2331 | Liz's Cell: 403-875-8470

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The Year In Numbers At A Glance

Nearing the end of 2007, it has been a healthy and robust year for condominium sales in the city on the MLS system. Nearly 8000 condos have been sold on the MLS this year. Add to this number the thousands of condominiums sold by developers privately, and Calgarians continue to embrace condo ownership. This decision is not always motivated by a more affordable price point. Calgary is seeing more and more million dollar condos. At the end of November, 29 condos over $1,000,000 had sold on the MLS this year.

Selection for condo buyers has greatly increased in the past 12 months. Total inventory on the MLS is up over 35% from last year at this time. This means that sellers are finding themselves having to wait a bit longer to sell their condos. The average number of days to sell a condo in November was 44, compared to 36 days in November 2006. Gone are the days of buyers missing out on listings because they sold in days or hours, like they did in the spring of 2006!

Overall, prices for the condominium market have remained strong. Yes, the average price has dropped since the high of $332,237 in May of this year. Year over year, though, the numbers are moving up. The average price for a condo in November 2007 was $312,710, up over the November 2006 average of $282,781.

A trend to watch that may have a large impact on the condominium market is the number of vacant properties for sale. Currently over 40% of all condominiums for sale on the MLS are either vacant or newly constructed (never occupied) suites. Typically you would see about 30% of suites vacant. In the past 2 years many buyers purchased suites in buildings that were under construction with the intention of selling them (flipping them) as soon as they take possession. Many of these suites are now nearing completion and a large percentage of them may find their way onto the MLS system, further increasing inventory.

Since December 2006, the average price of condominiums in Calgary has increased 11%. At the start of 2007 the Calgary Real Estate Board predicted condo pricing to increase by 9%. All in all the year has been positive for the condominium market. What will 2008 bring? Sorry, my crystal ball is in the shop!

Data is supplied by Pillar 9™ MLS® System. Pillar 9™ is the owner of the copyright in its MLS®System. Data is deemed reliable but is not guaranteed accurate by Pillar 9™.
The trademarks MLS®, Multiple Listing Service® and the associated logos are owned by The Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and identify the quality of services provided by real estate professionals who are members of CREA. Used under license.