More stabilized housing market forecasted for 2023, says Calgary Real Estate Board
The market is still seeing relatively low supply levels, says board's chief economist
The Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) says it's expecting the city's housing market to stabilize this year after two years of significant growth.
In its 2023 forecast, released Tuesday, the board predicted seeing nearly 26,000 residential sales, compared to 30,000 last year.
However, levels are still expected to be higher than the activity reported before the pandemic.
"Overall, I expect that sales activity will ease but stay relatively strong compared to historical levels, and prices are expected to stabilize with some adjustments happening really in the upper end of the market and different conditions in some of the more affordable products," said CREB's chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie.
"So I still expect price growth to happen for the more affordable product in the market."
Lurie expects factors like rising in-migration numbers — residents moving from other regions within Canada — and provincial economic gains to offset some of the negative impacts of rising lending rates.
She added the market is seeing relatively low supply levels, and those are expected to prevent significant price declines.
Despite the lower supply levels, Nadine Faule, a real estate agent with Real Estate Professionals Inc., believes demand will continue to rise and cause a continuous increase in housing prices.
She specializes in relocation and says she receives at least one email or message a week from people who are coming to the city from either the east or Vancouver.
In comparison to the demand, the inventory is going to stay low, she said. Even if there's a significant increase, Faule says due to certain factors like people moving here and homeowners not selling their properties, the supply will not match the demands of the market.
"The market is [based on] supply and demand," Faule said. "If you don't have any supply, and you still have all of that demand, I can't see the prices going down."
CREB says conditions across the city's housing market will vary depending on factors like price range and property type.
With files from Dave Gilson