Resale pace eases as listings tighten…

Resale activity of single-family homes in Calgary cooled slightly in August after a strong upswing in deals for most of 2012.
Since February, every month this year saw at least a double-digit percentage increase over the same time in 2011.
That trend ended in August with only six per cent higher sales of single-family homes than the same span last year, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.
There were 1,169 deals made last month over the 1,101 transactions in August 2011.
“While the sales growth remains strong, it is slower than previous five months in part due to the lack of new listings in the city’s single-family market,” said CREB president Bob Jablonski in a news release. This August saw 13.56 per cent fewer new listings than the same time in 2011.
“With fewer products to choose from, many consumers are holding off on transacting, or turning to surrounding towns, the new home market and condominiums.”
Along with the modest increase in sales was only a 4.5 per cent higher average price for single-family homes last month at $475,272 over August last year.
The board’s Zone A, which roughly corresponds to the city’s northwest saw the highest resale activity of single-family homes in Calgary last month with 432 deals.
Tuscany, which is a part of the board’s Zone A, outpaced all communities in the city for sales last month, with 29 single-family homes changing hands.
The zone also had the second highest average price at $473,151.
Zone C, which roughly covers southwest Calgary had the highest average resale price for a single-family home last month at $597,966 and the second most activity sales totals at 322 deals.
Zone C was also home to the priciest sales for single-family homes last month, when two houses sold in the Slopes at an average price of $1,658,206.
Zone D, which roughly covers southeast Calgary has 322 sales of single-family homes last month at an average price of 443,507.
At the same time, Zone B covering northeast Calgary had 179 sales at an average price of $299,767.
PURSUIT OF LUXURY
The resale pace for single-family homes priced $1 million and higher from the start of 2012 to the end of August saw a 15 per cent increase in resale activity over the same span in 2011, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.
To the end of last month, there were 348 deals made for more than $1 million, compared to only 298 transactions during the same months in 2011, it says.
From the 348 sales this year, 165 of them were in the $1-million to $1.249 million price range.