Key MLS statistics from January show positive signs for Calgary

Home sales on Canadian MLS Systems dipped 2.9 percent in January from December, but shot up 11.5 percent from January 2019, making last month’s sales the highest for any January since 2008.

December to January sales were down in half of the markets measured by the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA), with the national result most impacted by an 18 percent decline in the Lower Mainland of British Columbia. Meanwhile, sales in the Greater Toronto Area increased 14 percent month over month.

Prices rose in under-supplied markets, says Jason Stephen, president of CREA.

“Home price growth continues to pick up in housing markets where listings are in short supply, particularly in southern, central and eastern Ontario,” says Stephen. “Meanwhile, ample supply across the Prairies and in Newfoundland and Labrador is resulting in ongoing competition among sellers.”

From a price perspective on the prairies, Calgary, Edmonton and Saskatoon posted small year-over-year price declines, while the year-over-year gap widened to -6.9 percent in Regina.

Markets with historically tight supply saw a larger than normal drop in new listings at this time of the year, says CREA’s senior economist Shaun Cathcart.

“The logic being that if you are a seller, you’re not just choosing when to list but effectively when to sell, so why not hold off until the spring when the weather is better and more buyers are looking,” says Cathcart. “Deferred listings mean deferred sales, which could explain some of January’s decline in activity. The question going forward is how many sellers are out there waiting to list their property, how much demand will respond and how that will impact prices later this year.”

The number of newly listed homes edged up only slightly month over month in January, the result of declines in some larger markets, including Calgary, Edmonton and Montreal, which were offset by gains in the York and Durham Regions of the Greater Toronto Area.

“Based on a comparison of the sales-to-new listings ratio with the long-term average, close to two-thirds of all local markets were in balanced market territory in January 2020,” says Cathcart. “Apart from a few areas of Alberta and Saskatchewan, the remainder was all favouring sellers.”

Here’s a year-over year comparison of Calgary’s key statistics from January

* In millions
** sales to new listings ratio

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