As We Enter Fall Lack of Inventory Continues To Affect The Market

The fall is an exciting time to be in the mountains. After a summer full of hiking, biking, running along with the many successful local events like Canada Day, the Folk Festival and most recently the Canmore Highland Games we are excited for the upcoming fall season. The kids are back in school, and the days are still longer to enjoy active outdoor evenings.

We do typically start to see a pickup in buyers as the cooler temperatures in the air bring thoughts of ski season and what that might mean in terms of purchasing a property here or getting something larger (or smaller) depending on each families needs.

Sales in August show a higher number however quite a few of the hotel condos were a new project so once you remove those from the total the sales in August 2023 match that of August 2022. While sales matched year over year the listing inventory is down 25% year over year which makes the matching sales numbers show much stronger. We have seen a decrease in sales in 2023 which we feel corresponds to that lack of inventory and choice for buyers. Our market continues to have buyers waiting for that right property to come to market.

The Months of Inventory metric we use continues to support our position of a sellers market. The rule of thumb is between 3 and 6 months of inventory is typically a balanced or moving to a balanced market while less that 3 is a sellers market and more than 6 is a buyers market. August was at 2.37 and the average for 2023 currently sits at 2.88.

We hope you have enjoyed your summer to this point and the remaining summer is amazing! We are here to help with all your real estate needs and are never too busy for your referrals. Thank you!

**Months of inventory is a calculation on the numbers of months it would take to sell all the currently listings with no new inventory coming to Market based on number of past sales**

Low Inventory continues into August.. Will the rest of the year bring us closer to a balanced market?

As I am writing this, I can hear the music at the Canmore Folk Music Festival in the background. It is so amazing that our local festival is the longest running folk music festival in Alberta starting in 1978. I feel like a broken record with the message of a continuing lack of inventory. Over the last five months, our listing inventory has only deviated from the average by at most 6.5%. It is this lack of inventory that has slowed down the number of sales as the buyers do not have much for choice, so we are seeing some buyers expand their parameters of what they are looking for while others are just being patient as they wait for that ‘right’ property to be available.
The data for July is skewed as over half of the sales and close to half of the new listings were just reported sales that happened previously at a new hotel condo development that is under construction to be completed in 2026. If we remove those added properties our months of supply is 2.43 for the entire market which continues that trend of a sellers market (a months of inventory between 4-6 is often referred to as a balanced market) Last year at this time we had expected a rise in inventory which did occur but it was not sustained as the pent up demand worked quickly through those listings bringing the inventory through the winter at the 2nd lowest on record (only behind 2 months the previous year)
We do continue to expect more listings to come on through August, September and October but will it be enough to move the market to be more in balance. That will take a substantial increase as we continue to have buyers waiting on the sidelines for that right property to come to market.
We hope you have enjoyed your summer to this point and the remaining summer is amazing! We are here to help with all your real estate needs and are never too busy for your referrals. Thank you!

With Summer Comes
Continued Low Inventory

It was great to see the town excited for Canada Day and a spectacular Canada Day Parade, even with an extended route. With the weather being so great locals and visitors alike can get out and enjoy this mountain paradise we call home.

A year ago, we had concern over our low inventory and had hopes we would see it rise… Unfortunately, it has lowered even further. Number of listings on July 1st, 2023, is the lowest on record for July and is down 28% lower than 2022. This lack of inventory has some buyers standing pat and waiting for the right property to come to market.

This leads us to believe this lack of inventory will continue but we hope to see the levels increase over the next few months as we have typically seen in our market.

Average sale prices over the last quarter have both increased and dropped over the 2nd quarter of 2022 depending on the market segment. We saw drops in Single Family Homes, Half Duplexes, Townhomes and Lots, while Apartment condos and hotel condos both saw increases. With the lack of sales (tied to lack of inventory) these can be deceiving as we have seen sale prices rise throughout the market segments.

Days on market in the last year have had slight increases which can be attributed to sellers pushing price points, so buyers have had a better chance (time wise) to make an offer and negotiate. In some situations, we are seeing sellers reduce pricing if they were too aggressive with their initial asking price. Days on market is still incredibly low so buyers must be ready to jump if the right property hits the market.

We hope you have a great July, and we would be so thankful if you could pass along our information if you know of anyone looking to buy or sell.

Summer starts with a continuation of low inventory
and high demand!

As we enter the month of June, we are all just wowed by the spectacular weather which has allowed all of us such a great opportunity to jump right into all the outdoor fun that our Bow Valley affords. I was out for a run the other day and ran past happy hikers, excited mountain bikers and wrapped up with the quiet paddle strokes of paddleboarders and a couple in a canoe. Are we ever lucky to call this home.
April and May sales volume was comparable to the sales volumes we saw before 2016.
We do attribute this to the incredibly low inventory. Since we have been keeping local statistics in the early 2000’s, the average listing inventory is more than double that of our current 106 listings on the market. When we note that almost 20% of these present listings are Hotel Condos (that did not exist back when we started) it does explain why many buyers are in a holding pattern waiting for the right home to become available. Sales volume is still down from the last few years and is more in line with 2015.
With this in mind we are expecting to see steady sales volume but could increase when our inventory grows.
Now is still a great time to get your property on the market if that is something you are considering. As always, we are happy to update you on where your property may sit in this new market to see if the time is right.

Lastly, we are never too busy for your referrals, we absolutely love helping friends and family of our past and current clients.