Calgary home price appreciation expected to rise

By NextHome Staff
August 31, 2018

While several Alberta cities have seen declines in home prices, Calgary is experiencing a different scenario. Here, home prices have increased and are expected to pick up by the end of the quarter, according to the latest Royal LePage House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast.

Calgary: the future looks bright

A number of cities in Alberta have posted year-over-year price declines. When the national mortgage stress test regulations were implemented in January 2018, the region’s tentative housing recovery stalled and the market experienced a setback.

However, in Calgary, home prices are hanging onto recent gains as the employment picture brightens. By the end of the third quarter, the aggregate price of a home in Calgary is expected to match the national forecasted increase of 1.9 per cent to $493,820, compared to the second quarter of 2018.

Price appreciation slowed across Canada

Nationally, home price appreciation slowed in the second quarter of this year, marked primarily by softness in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA), where many regions witnessed year-over-year price declines.

“It was a spring market that never blossomed,” says Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage. “As anticipated in our original 2018 forecast, the new federal mortgage stress-test measures slowed the market to a standstill in much of the country, as some families adjusted their expectations in a world with lower borrowing capacity, and others not impacted by the OSFI regulations moved to the sidelines, adopting a ‘wait and see what happens to home prices’ approach.”

Forecast: Increased sales and prices in second half

Looking ahead, Royal LePage is projecting an uptick in home price appreciation in Canada in the third quarter, forecasting an aggregate price increase of 1.9 per cent.

“The economy is strong and unemployment is very low,” Soper continues. “We face shortages in our major cities, with many more people looking for homes than the market has available for purchase or rent. Upward pressure on prices will likely return to most markets during the third quarter.”

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