February 2023 Real Estate News
If we were to look strictly at year over year changes in the market, there would be some drastic percentages and numbers we would be sharing with you this month. The real estate market began to shift in early June of 2022 and until June of this year, our year over year data is going to look like the market has absolutely crashed. Yes, we are in a very different market than 12 months ago, however we have transitioned to a more normal seasonal market in the Bow Valley. While working on this month’s newsletter and stats, I looked back to January 2020 – before the pandemic, record low interest rates, working from home and all the other changes we have had in three years.
January 2023 had 24 MLS sales in Canmore, Harvie Heights, Lac Des Arcs, Exshaw and Dead Man’s Flats. January 2020 had 25, January 2019 had 26 and January 2018 had 25 – not a huge change when we look at historical numbers. What has changed dramatically since 2020 is that there are currently 77 residential and 25 short term rental listings for sale. In 2020, there were 194 residential listings and 45 short term rental listings. Prices have also increased dramatically since 2020 with the average sale price for detached / semi-detached homes increasing by $586,000 (50%); townhomes by $225,000 (28%); apartment condominiums by $244,000 (47%); and short term rental use by $291,000 (67%).
Year over year, there has thankfully been an increase in residential properties for sale from 34 last February to 82 currently; including 5 development lots. Short term rental use listings have decreased year over year from 36 to 25. January year over year sales for residential properties remained flat with 18 sales while short term rental sales fell from 39 to 6 sales year over year.
As we head towards the spring real estate market, we expect to see more listings coming to market in the next few weeks. We are headed into February with the second lowest level of active February listings on record; with these low levels of active listings on the market, we expect well priced properties to sell quickly. There is still strong demand for homes in Canmore however not as strong as the spring market of 2022; offers over asking, offers without conditions, and multiple offers on most properties are unlikely.
