Just a some quick notes of interest from the Calgary Real Estate Board 2009 Forecast conference that I attended this week.
- Inventory for Calgary is expected to match the high inventory of 2008 however sales are expected to increase by 10% for single family homes
- The condo market has a more glum picture with inventory on the rise from 2008 and an expected 5% decrease in sales from 2008. Please keep in mind that the target market of condos that is likely to be hit the hardest will be high rise and low rise condos due to the surplus of inventory from projects nearing completion in the downtown core.
- Population growth of Calgary is to decrease from 2008’s increase of almost 23,000 to around 19,000 - 21,000. Of those approximately 13,500 will be from migration to Calgary.
- Calgary’s unemployment rate ended in December at 3.8% and economists estimate it will rise to 4.5% in 2009 which translates to approximately 3,000 - 5,000 jobs lost in a workforce of approximately 700,000. However, in contrast the number of people working in Calgary is expected to grow. This is because when you combine migration to Calgary, jobs created, jobs lost the number of jobs in Calgary is actually expected to increase slightly.
- Another interesting note is that there is still expected to be a labour crunch in some industries. Calgary has a very high labour participation rate meaning that there is a high percentage of the population that wants to or is part of the workforce. When you combine a high participation rate with a low unemployment rate (Calgary still maintains one of the lowest in North America) then job growth becomes limited by population growth.
Now for your McKenzie Lake update . . .
The past week for McKenzie Lake has been a slow one with only one property that now has a pending sale, no sales and 8 new listings. McKenzie Lake’s inventory has risen a total of 6 listings.
Total Active Listings for McKenzie Lake is 64 including both single family houses and condos.
Here is a breakdown of activity for January 15 - January 23
| |
Single Family
|
Condo
|
|
Total Listings
|
60
|
4
|
|
New Listings
|
8
|
1
|
|
Re-Listed
|
3
|
0
|
|
Expired
|
2
|
0
|
|
Terminated
|
0
|
0
|
|
Pending Sales
|
1
|
0
|
|
Sold
|
0
|
0
|
**There were no sold listings between January 15 - January 23**
McKenzie Lake Listings December 16 - January 6
| |
Single Family
|
Condos
|
|
High List Price
|
$2,390,000
|
$ 414,900
|
|
Low List Price
|
$ 288,800
|
$ 274,000
|
|
Average List Price
|
$ 580,642
|
$ 359,225
|
|
Median List Price
|
$ 454,900
|
$ 374,000
|
For more information on McKenzie Lake or the Calgary Real Estate market please contact your McKenzie Lake Realtor, Lina Horner anytime at (403) 923-7237 or at homes@linahorner.com
