QUOTE (DeniseHamilton @ Apr 4 2008, 11:52 AM) Does anyone have any thoughts on why there are so many houses for sale in Calgary? If Calgary`s population is increasing, where are all those sellers going once their houses sell?
Denise Hamilton
Hi Denise,
Check out these stats from Alberta Finance and Enterprise.
http://www.finance.gov.ab.ca/aboutalberta/..._4thquarter.pdf
We had a huge surge of Inmigration into Alberta in 2006, culminating in the 2nd quarter of 2007, and those numbers have now dropped to the levels of 2002 and 2003. Our inmigration levels at the last quarter are now negative 880.
I suspect part of this surge in homes can be due to people signing up for building new homes 18 to 24 months ago..those new homes have now been completed, and the new home owners now have to sell their previous homes at this time. Some couldn`t sell their homes, so have rented them out to get cash flow. Some speculators have been caught holding the bag and can`t or won`t drop their prices fast enough to sell in a sliding market. Some investors are now hoping that they can sell at a good enough profit now so that they can re-position themselves to buy better properties at lower levels.
In Edmonton, one out of 10 available listings will sell. We now have 9500 unsold listings (homes, condos, duplexes etc) on MLS , another 4500 or so on Comfree, and the builders have about another 6000 or so homes unsold. Sales each month amount to about 1700 or thereabouts. Since the market is only as strong as the weakest seller, a domino effect is created when the first seller drops their price drastically to get it sold. We`re seeing condos downtown drop their prices by $60,000 or so from inflated highs in order to get it sold. Builders have dropped their prices anywhere from $100,000 to $150,000 from inflated highs of last year to slash their inventory. Sellers are now seriously considering offers coming in at $50,000 or so under list price if they`ve been on the market for some time.
Time to buy.