Low inventory fuels house price increases in Calgary in first quarter
Condominiums see lowest price increases, but highest activity level among housing categories
CALGARY, April 4, 2013 /CNW/ - The Royal LePage House Price Survey released today showed a moderate year-over-year increase in prices across all housing types surveyed in Calgary.
Standard condominiums witnessed the smallest price increase in first quarter, with a 5.1 per cent year-over-year increase to $260,767. The average home price for a standard two-storey home in Calgary was $439,800, an increase of 5.2 per cent. Detached bungalows saw the largest price increase of 6.8 per cent to $451,833.
"Unlike many other markets across Canada, standard condominiums were a more active housing category this past quarter," said Robert Blaker, broker and general manager of Royal LePage Foothills. "This is due in large part to the reduced inventory of standard two-storey homes and detached bungalows. Buyers looking for a single family home in the $400,000 or less price range have sought alternatives because of the lack of inventory."
Nationally, house prices remained relatively flat in the first quarter of 2013 compared to the first quarter of 2012, recording that the average price of a home in Canada increased between 1.2 per cent and 2.4 per cent.
In the first quarter of 2013, the national average price of a standard two-storey home increased 2.2 per cent, compared to the previous year. Over the same period, the national average price of a detached bungalow increased 2.4 per cent and the average price of a standard condominium increased 1.2 per cent.
"2013 finds the Canadian housing industry in a highly unusual place. The combination of very low mortgage rates and flat home prices, against a background of general economic improvement across the nation, is not something we've seen before," said Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage. "Typically one of these variables is moving hard in an opposite direction. While some have spoken loudly about impending market volatility and dramatic downward pressure on home prices, we are simply not seeing evidence of this. The current environment is very supportive for housing. Those waiting for big declines in home prices will likely be disappointed."
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 90 communities across the country. A complete database of past and present surveys is available on the Royal LePage website at www.royallepage.ca. Current figures will be updated following the complete tabulation of the data for the first quarter of 2013. A printable version of the first quarter 2013 survey will be available online on May 3, 2013.
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.
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 and 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 symbolTSX:BRE.
For more information, visit www.royallepage.ca.
SOURCE: Royal LePage Real Estate Services
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Elisha McCallum
Kaiser Lachance Communications
778-668-0185
[email protected]
Tammy Gilmer
Director, Global Communications & Public Relations
Royal LePage Real Estate Services
416-510-5783
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