Inflation concerns and rate fears are feeding into increased demand in the region, housing association says
The Calgary market saw robust home sales activity in December as 2021 ended with a record number of transactions in the region, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board.
A total of 1,737 homes were sold in the market last month, representing an annual increase of nearly 45%. Calgary’s year-end total amounted to 27,686 transactions, up by nearly 72% year over year and 44% higher than the 10-year average, the CREB said.
“Concerns over inflation and rising lending rates likely created more urgency with buyers over the past few months,” said Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist at the CREB. “However, as is the case in many other cities, the supply has not kept pace with the demand causing strong price growth.”
Read more: First-time buyers prefer these markets the most
The region saw 1,230 new listings last month, increasing by almost 5% from 1,172 the year prior.
Calgary’s average home price grew by 10% annually in December to reach $477,977. The market’s average home price across all of 2021 stood at $492,704.
However, Calgary remains a haven of affordability, according to a recent study by Moody’s Analytics. The city’s average home price was 30.92% lower than the national price as of mid-2021 – a trend that was also apparent in other major Prairie markets like Saskatoon (-31.78%) and Edmonton (-29.87).
