According to a report released by the Canadian Real Estate Association earlier this week, Annual price growth in Calgary’s resale housing market was the best in Canada in May, more than doubling the national aggregate.
According to the association’s MLS Home Price Index, prices in Calgary jumped by 10.12 per cent year-over-year compared with 4.98 per cent growth in 11 major centres surveyed. Calgary also had the best three-year price growth at 23.38 per cent compared with the national aggregate of 12.31 per cent.
A senior economist with BMO Capital Markets, Robert Kavcic, said Calgary, “is on an island by itself” in the overall Canadian housing market. Robert Hogue, senior economist with RBC Economics, said upward price pressure is “still fairly intense” in Calgary.
In May, the association said the Calgary region’s MLS transactions were up 18 per cent from last year while in Canada sales jumped by 4.8 per cent. Average MLS sale prices rose by 5.7 per cent in Calgary to $465,579 and by 7.1 per cent in Canada to $416,584.
On Monday, CREA released its latest housing forecast for the rest of 2014 and 2015. It indicates sales in Alberta will rise by 3.8 per cent in 2014 to 68,600 units and by another 1.0 per cent in 2015 to 69,300 units. In Canada, sales are expected to grow by 1.2 per cent in 2014 to 463,400 and by another 0.9 per cent in 2015 to 467,800.
Average MLS sale prices are forecast to increase by 4.8 per cent in Alberta this year to $399,300 and by 2.0 per cent in 2015 to $407,200. In Canada, prices are expected to rise by 5.7 per cent this year to $404,300 and by 0.7 per cent next year to $407,300.
According to Robert Kavcic, “One reason policymakers might be a bit hesitant to act again soon is that strong price gains are confined to a few select markets, while a wide swath of the country, geographically, is seeing downright dreary conditions.”
Leslie Preston, economist with TD Economics, said a thaw after a very long winter saw Canadians flocking back to the housing market in May, driving home sales to their biggest monthly gain in nearly four years. He added that due to modest employment growth and house prices continuing to outstrip gains in incomes, TD expects that sales momentum will ebb later this year.
Source: Calgary Herald