Thursday, January 4, 2007 - Calgary Real Esate Board - CREB - creb.com
Calgary, January 4, 2007 – Calgary's MLS® Sales and Listings numbers closed the year with record breaking figures, according to figures released by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®).
Year-to-date combined residential sales totaled 32,912, the highest ever recorded in MLS® history and an increase of 4.53% over 2005's year end combined residential figure of 31,485. Listings, while slow at times during 2006, finished at 44,712, surpassing 2005's year end combined listing number of 39,698, showing an increase of 12.63 per cent.
The December residential combined sales rang in at 2,015, showing an increase of 7.52 per cent from December 2005 when the sales were recorded as 1,874 and showing a decrease of 12.88 per cent from November's sales of 2,313. The following shows the breakdown of the December combined sales; 1,414 single-family residences, 593 condominium, and 8 mobile homes.
December 2005 sales in the same categories were, 1,341, 530, and 3, respectively.
Combined residential listings in December were 1,670, showing a typical seasonal drop of 41.40 percent from the 2,850 recorded in November, but showing an increase of 6.98 per cent from the 1,561 listings that came to the market in December 2005.
The average year-to-date residential sale price was $346,673, an increase of 38.17 per cent over the year end average price in 2005 of $250,906. The average combined residential sale price for December 2006 was $361,640, showing a 32.35 per cent increase over December 2005, when the average price was $273,238, and showing a slight increase of 0.27 per cent from the November average price of $360,674. Broken out, the following is a comparison of single-family, condominium, and mobile home average sale prices for the month of December 2006 over 2005: single-family $396,870 / $305,676; condominium $281,459 / $192,412; and mobile home $78,250 / $53,000.
Year-to-date Condominium sales were a record breaking 9,608, an increase of 9.76 per cent from 2005's year end number of 8,754. Condominium sales in December totaled 593 showing an increase of 11.89 per cent over December 2005 when 530 condominiums changed hands and a decrease of 11.49 per cent from the 670 sales recorded in November. The average sale price of a condominium in December 2006 was $281,459, an increase of 46.28 per cent from December 2005 when the average price was $192,412 and a very slight decrease of 0.43 per cent from November's average price of $282,680.
“It is good to see that unit sales in December 2006 were up slightly over December 2005, probably due to having 50% more inventory as we close the year,” says Calgary Real Estate Board President, Kevin Clark. “That however is not the full picture.
Of the properties that sold in December, 40% had reduced their price by an average of 5.3% before selling; 90% negotiated a sale price an average of 3% below their asking price; and 11% sold at or above list price! It remains a complex market, so talk to your REALTOR®; it will be the best investment you make in 2007”, concluded Clark.
Average price information can be useful in establishing trends over time, but does not indicate actual prices in centres comprised of widely divergent neighbourhoods or account for price differentials between geographical areas. The median price is determined by selecting the middle number of total sale prices – the combined residential median price for December 2006 was $334,000. This is an increase of 40.34 per cent from December 2005, when the median price was 238,000.
The Calgary Real Estate Board is a professional body of 5,431 licensed brokers and registered agents, representing 254 Member offices. The Board does not generate statistics or analysis of any individual member or company's market share. All MLS® active listings for Calgary and area may be found on the Board’s website at www.creb.com.
