Sales are down from the heights of the spring frenzy to 65 MLS transactions in July. Through the summer months, we typically see a summer dip as people head on holidays and are not necessarily thinking real estate. Often our summer dip is not as pronounced as urban markets because of the number of people visiting the Bow Valley who have made a trip to purchase or decide to purchase while visiting. Even with the lower level of sales volumes, the local real estate market remains very much in a seller’s market. Month over month, sales declined from 83 sales in June with the largest decline in the short term rental market. On the residential side of the market, there are 2.1 months of inventory. In fact at the beginning of August, there are only 19 townhouse properties actively on the market; a month over month decline of 30% and year over year decline of 72%. The short term rental market of commercial and tourist home accommodation has 7.4 months of inventory; the first time it has been in a balanced market in a year. Prices for these types of properties have risen significantly over the past year and have started to plateau.
Our sales volumes are still above the multi-year trends, with 65 overall sales in July (July 2018 49 July 2019 59 July 2020 93) and our total active listing remain very low at 181 (Aug 2018 219 Aug 2019 281 Aug 2020 309). The market has not seen consistent levels of inventory like this for 15 years and there have been thousands of residential units added to the market since then. Heading into September, we expect to see more properties come to market for the fall selling season. Once again, this month, it is often a story of low standing inventory as well priced homes are coming onto and going off the market quickly. The panic of the spring has subsided somewhat and there may be some opportunities for a buyer to negotiate on price and terms.
With our low levels of active listings and continued strong sales, we don’t foresee any change in pricing in the near future. While prices amongst almost all segments of the market have risen dramatically over the past year there does not appear to be any pricing corrections coming next while. In some segments, we have seen pricing plateau and there have been price adjustments for some properties that have been on the market for a while, but on the whole prices are remaining at their new levels.
