Real estate sales slow a little after record February

By COLLIN GALLANT on March 5, 2022.

cgallant@medicinehatnews.com@CollinGallant

Real estate sales in the Medicine Hat region slowed from near record-setting pace in February, but prices continued to climb.

Sales in the typically slower month fell for detached homes, but listings continued to slow and prices rose another two per cent compared to a relatively blistering start to 2021.

In the first two months of this year, 120 single-family home sales were closed at an average price of $326,200, marking a three per cent increase over the same period last year.

The price jump is more notable in a much smaller number of semi-detached and row house sales (showing 29 and 18 per cent price growth, respectively). Condo unit sales showed higher sales but lower value, while more condos came onto the market.

Lower inventory in other sectors is “well below norms for the market during this time of year,” according to analysis from the Alberta Real Estate Association specific to Medicine Hat.

“Persistently tight market conditions continue to place upward pressure on prices.”

That comes after whole-year price increases of seven per cent in 2020 and four per cent in 2021 across all residential unit sales.

This week the Bank of Canada raised its overnight lending rate to banks by a quarter point to 0.5 per cent, which will flow through to both variable mortgage rates and fixed rates that had sunk well below three per cent during the pandemic.

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