Explosion in Calgary house sales credited to out-of-province buyers

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Calgary continues to be a hot spot for people looking to get into Canada’s housing market, but it’s becoming increasingly difficult to break into.

According to a report by the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB), house sales in the city this past March rose by 10% compared to this time last year. While there is clearly a big interest in buying into the housing market, there aren’t enough listings to keep up with the demand.

March saw the sales-to-new listings ratio rise to 84%, numbers Calgary hasn’t seen in almost two decades.

“We have not seen March conditions this tight since 2006, which is also the last time we reported high levels of interprovincial migration and a months-of-supply below one month,” said Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist at CREB.

She adds that many discrepancies between the supply and demand ratio can be attributed to out-of-province buyers.

“Moreover, we are entering the third consecutive year of a market favouring the seller as the two-year spike in migration has driven up demand and contributed to the drop in re-sale and rental supply. Given supply adjustments take time, it is not a surprise that we continue to see upward pressure on home prices.”

Calgary Real Estate Board

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