With the spring real estate market upon us here in Canmore, Banff and the Bow Valley, we are entering the busy season for the next few months. As expected, with the longer and warmer days in April, month-over-month sales climbed from 49 to 60 transactions; while inventory has climbed to 227 active listings.
A note about this month’s market stats; Distinctive Homes a developer has been pre-selling two new projects for the past few months. Their sales rep inputted 30 new apartment sales into the MLS mid-month. While this is great for our annual stats and to track developer sales, it throws our monthly stats a bit out of whack. If we were to include these sales (which happened over multiple months) it would take April 2019 sales to 90 transactions – something that has never happened in the area. As such, the average price, median price, and days on the market do include the sales. However, our trend graph from 2002 to this past month only reflects the 60 sales.
The big buzz around town is the sale of two combined lots on Van Horne along the Bow River which offered 214 feet of riverfrontage and 0.94 of an acre of area for a sale price of $6,000,000. These are one of the very few remaining riverfront parcels in Canmore and offer privacy, views, and good access to downtown Canmore.
Overall, with the strong spring sales and low inventory levels, we have returned to a seller's market. Townhomes and apartments are very much in a seller's market, especially in the entry-level; detached and semi-detached homes are more in a balanced market. Year to date, sales have declined from 153 to 149; this does not include the 30 transactions previously mentioned. Active listings year over year have increased from 193 to 227 year over year.
As we continue to warm up, have longer days, and welcome more visitors to our Valley we expect sales to remain strong. Over the next two months, active listing levels should increase slightly and then hold steady through the summer. With the Provincial election now out of the way, we expect some renewed confidence in the upper end of the market. There is a significant selection of homes on the market in Silvertip at the moment and the luxury market needs the Alberta economy to start moving in a significant way before we see sales in the top end have any major volume.
