November so far is feeling more like September in terms of sales and weather. With one of our local resorts open for skiing this week and temperatures in the Valley bottom in the teens, it is hard to complain. Another month of spectacular sales is behind us and inventory is near record lows. So far, it looks like we are being set up for a fantastic winter here in the Bow Valley.
The Canmore, Banff and Bow Valley real estate market is witnessing a very different market than the previous eight years. We need to look back to October 2006 for fall inventory levels and October 2005 for fall sales levels like we have had this year. During the past decade, we have added hundreds of residential units to the overall market so in reality, we are experiencing some of the lowest inventory levels Canmore has ever seen. Currently, there are 183 active listings in the area and only 134 if you remove condominium-hotel units and lots. Year over year, inventory is down 32% and there has been an 18% decrease since last month. Sales have jumped 68% from 34 sales last October to 57 sales this October.
When we look into what is driving sales, we suspect the October bump was partially due to the new mortgage rules taking effect. Townhomes lead the market with 21 sales last month and a median sale price of $567,000; the median asking price of active inventory is $725,000. The majority of the market is being driven by the entry level to mid-range of the market. The lower end of the luxury market is selling; however this is a massive lack of inventory in that segment.
Single family home inventory has come down to just 40 homes on the market, a 21% decline month over month. Currently, there is only 3 months of inventory for single family homes, an inventory level we have not seen since the fall of 2013. The average sale price for a single family home was again above $1,000,000 this past month with the average asking price for active inventory at $1,444,000. The median sale price jumped to $950,000 while the median asking price is $1,087,000. The differential remains the high levels in inventory in the upper end of the market.
Historically, we have seen seasonal trends in both inventory and sales. We would expect to see inventory levels to continue to decrease through to February as we enter the winter selling season. Sales tend to slow through December and January and again pick up in February and March. However, as this market is showing no signs of slowing, we do not expect to see as typical a winter drop in sales volumes and you can see on the past 14 year trend graph.
