Real estate listings up, but so are prices

By Collin Gallant on August 16, 2018.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com @CollinGallant

Medicine Hat’s real estate market is showing higher listings, lower sales, but also stable prices; a state of affairs that doesn’t seem to jive with how a market should react, according to the local real estate board’s president.

July’s report on home sales shows the number of residential properties for sale sits at a seven-year high, while sales dropped by 10 per cent for the month.

However, closing prices are even-Steven comparing more than 500 transactions for detached dwellings in 2018, and up for condos.

“It would usually mean that prices would go down, but our average price and mean prices are staying up,” said Tim Seitz, of the Medicine Hat Real Estate Board.

“Those usually go in the same directions. We’re seeing very stable and slightly rising prices. That’s encouraging.”

It could be a trend to watch, said Seitz, but at this point it is difficult to determine what’s behind the rise in listings.

The summer inventory is traditionally low as most homes are listed in the early spring. One suggestion is it could be speculation in an improving economy.

The boost is substantial, however.

The 509 current listings for single family homes is up 33 per cent from April, and is the highest number since September 2011. At that point 602 detached homes were on the market.

Currently, including condos, vacation, townhouses and other properties, a total of 743 residential units were being offered for sale at the end of July — another seven-year high.

During the recent month, 81 single-family homes sold for a total of $24.9 million, marking an 18 per cent drop compared to last July. The condo market remained more steady, showing a smaller year-over-year decline to land with 35 sales valued cumulatively at $7.4 million.

Year to date, the average home selling price was $306,000 — even with the same point in 2017 — while the average condo closing price rose to $265,000.

Other residential class is keeping pace with last year’s figures, while the detached home category is about 10 per cent slower.

Homebuilding

The Medicine Hat region’s new residential construction sector saw a huge jump in July thanks to a new apartment complex, but other housing starts show at par with a slow summer of 2017.

The latest construction stats from the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Corporation, released Aug. 10, include the 143-unit apartment complex in Southlands. That boosts the total new units begun in the month to 157, up from 14 in July 2017.

However, construction on new single family homes as well as smaller multi-family projects was higher, but generally even from one year ago.

A total of 11 new single family homes brings the seven-month total for 2018 to 49, up eight from 2017.

Homebuilding activity was generally positive across the province, though declines were noted for Edmonton, as well as Fort McMurray, where wildfire reconstruction inflated the 2017 figures.

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