Calgary Real Estate Board - Calgary MLS® March 2008

MLS Reports Variety in the Real Estate Market March 2008

Calgary MLS listings for the month and for the first quarter, indicate a wide variety of housing for potential buyers, according to figures released by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB®).

Single family Calgary metro new listings added for the month of March totaled 3,493  an increase of 11.6% over March 2007 when new listings added totaled 3,131 an increase of 17.2% over February 2008 when the new listings added were 2,981.
At the end of the first quarter, we have seen 9,497 listings new to the market compared to 7,661 new listings for the first quarter of 2007, indicating a 24% increase.

"We have moved into a market that is currently providing a great variety and choices for the buyer. Not only does the buyer have a much better supply to choose from, they can also customize their wants and needs in a home making for a dream home purchase." remarked CREB® President, Ed Jensen.

Single family Calgary metro sales for the month of March came in at 1,418 showing a decrease of 37.6% from the 2,272 sales in March 2007 but showing an increase of 13.3% over last month's sales of 1,252.
Looking at the first quarter sales for single family Calgary metro, we see that 3,747 homes have changed hands, compared to the 5,709 sales recorded in the first quarter of 2007 indicating a 34.3% decrease.

"Gone are the days of sellers naming their price; sellers have to pay more attention to what their asking price will be and how they will present their home to experience a quick sale" explained Jensen.
"Sellers should rely on their REALTOR® for help while deciding on a list price, your REALTOR® has an arsenal of tools at their disposal to analyze the market and find a fair and reasonable price point for the seller."
"The average time a home is remaining on the market prior to selling is 40 days, but some are remaining on the market much longer and that may be due to overpricing and the extra inventory we are currently experiencing, one in five homes are selling in today's market, this is a great time for buyers to buy a home." continued Jensen.

Buyers need to know that in today's complex market, it is more important than ever that they call a realtor to assist them through the details of the purchase.

The median price of a single family Calgary metro home in March 2008 was $420,000 showing a slight decrease of 1.6% over March 2007 when the median price was $427,000 and showing a 1.9% decrease from last month when the median price was $428,000.
Quarterly the 2008 single family Calgary metro home median price also came in at $420,000 an increase of 2.5% over the first quarter median price of $409,900 for 2007.

All Calgary Metro MLS Statistics include properties listed and sold only within Calgary's City Limits. The median price is the best price that is midway between the least expensive and the most expensive home sold in an area during a given period of time. During that time, half the buyers bought homes that cost more than the median price and half bought homes for less than the median price.

Calgary metro condominium new listings added in March 2008 were 1,561 showing a increase of 24.9% from the 1,250 new condominium listings added in March 2007 and a 25.5% increase over the 1,244 new condominium listings brought to market last month.
New condominium listings finding their way to market in the first three months of 2008 totaled 4,208 an increase of 33.9% over the 3,143 new listings brought to market in the first quarter of 2007.

Calgary metro condominium sales in March 2008 were 565, a decrease of 44.9% from March 2007 when 1,026 condominiums changed hands and an increase of just 0.5% from the 562 condominium sales in February 2008.
Quarterly, condominium sales were 1,577 for this year, a decrease of 40.6% from the 2,656 condominium sales recorded in the first three months of 2007.

The average price of a single family Calgary metro home in March 2008 was $474,513 showing a 1.1% decrease from March 2007 when the average price was $479,914. The average price of a metro condominium was $312,620 showing a 0.1% decrease over March 2007 when the average price was $312,280.