New year kicks off with slow sales
City of Calgary, February 1, 2019 – As economic challenges linger into 2019, housing markets remain on a sluggish pace.
January sales totalled 804 units, 16 per cent below last year and 21 per cent below long-term averages for the month.
“The slow start to the year does not come as a surprise, as concerns about job losses and the state of the energy sector weigh on consumers. We anticipate that the slow market conditions will persist throughout much of the first quarter,” said CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
The number of new listings entering the market remained comparable to last year, but those levels far surpassed sales activity. This is resulted in further gains in inventory levels. Elevated inventories relative to sales caused months of supply to rise to nearly seven months.
Persistent buyers’ market conditions have continued to impact prices. Citywide residential benchmark prices eased to $414,800 in January. This is nearly one per cent lower than December figures and four per cent below January 2018 levels.