Calgary housing market remains stable with expected rise in new year: Royal LePage

Low oil prices will still have an impact on housing in Calgary, says a new report from Royal Lepage, but it won't be in the way that some forecasters believe.

Calgary — The Calgary housing market is expected to be brisk in the new year as inventory levels hit their lowest point in nearly two decades, according to a market forecast released by Royal LePage on Friday.

Median price of condos in the city took a sharp decrease of 3.7 per cent, dropping to $248,840 per unit.

Aggregate price of homes in Calgary dipped 0.5 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2020 to $467,041.

Two-storey homes and bungalows also decreased 0.5 per cent, with prices $512,107 and $493,164 respectively.

Although prices dipped, Royal LePage predicts that an anticipated rise in immigration and those looking to relocate to the Calgary region will help lead the market in achieving stability this spring.

"Calgary remains an attractive place to purchase a home, partly due to its affordability relative to other major cities in Western Canada," said Corinne Lyall, broker and owner of Royal LePage Benchmark,

Long-term predictions look optimistic as well, with Royal LePage forecasting that the aggregate price of a home in Calgary will increase 0.75 per cent in the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to the fourth quarter of 2020.

Across the country, the aggregate price of a home in Canada increased 9.7 per cent to $708,842 in the fourth quarter of 2020 in part to strong seller's market conditions.

The median price of a standard two-storey home in Canada rose 11.2 per cent year-over-year to $840,628, while bungalows saw an increase of 10 per cent to $592,899.

Royal LePage said that citizen confidence in selling homes during the pandemic has grown, leading to the increase in prices.

"The real estate industry has shown that buying and selling property can be done safely as much of the search and purchase process can now be done online," Phil Soper, Royal LePage president and CEO said in a statement.

Pricing data is provided by Real Property Solutions, a Canadian real estate valuation company.