Dale Boddy’s Look at the Red Deer Real Estate Market: March 07
AEveryone wants to know what’s happening with prices. Some are sure prices are going up and some think they are flat. And these are knowledgeable Realtors. Averages show that single family detached house prices were basically flat in October to December and then went up in January 2007. Average prices increased again in February but declined in March. The prices, respectively, are $335,669, $356,769, and $351,744. Three months does not expose trends.
Look not at just single family homes, but at everything sold. You won’t be able to read each number but long range trends are obvious; regular steady increases from January 1999 and then suddenly (March 2006) prices jump. Look at the line for the last 3 bars. The “3 period Month Moving Average” looks like the trend continues its steady rise. Or does it?
I explain last year’s price changes as a catch up. Oil drives our economy and oil jumped from $30 per barrel to around $60 per barrel currently. With more people working, bringing home good paychecks, buyers could and would pay more. Meanwhile, sellers held onto their current home until they had a new home. This created a housing shortage. Right now prices are 29% more than March 2006. In dollars, that’s $83,000. WOW! Now, let’s look closer at listings and sales in March 2007.
The graph above shows March sales, the blue line. It shows sales in various price categories. It probably comes as no shock to see that the most sales are in the lower price ranges. Homes priced between $250,000 to $325,000 show very strong sales. Sales were also very strong for properties between $100,000 and $200,000. In total sales were excellent, 234 in total. Mark March 2007 as our highest ever sales, blowing away the previous best of 208 sales in June 2006!
Take a peek at the red bars, listings counted on March 31 in the same price categories as sales. This shows how fast listings are sold. For continued strong April sales, additions need to be made to the existing inventory. It is very difficult to find listings under $250,000. While listings are easier to get in the range $275,000 to $325,000, the demand is stronger. In the higher price ranges inventory builds through the month giving buyers more choices. So how
Thinking about buying or selling? Want more information? E-mail me, dale@reddeerproperties.com or
Ask for Dale B: phone 346-6798 @ home, 318-2402 @ cell or 346-0021 @ pager or . Dale (or Joanne) can also be reached at 346-6798 (home). (Copies of these reports are available from Dale or on-line.)
Information supplied by members of the Red Deer and District Real Estate Board. While sources are believed reliable, verify before relying on it.
Dale Boddy’s Look at the Red Deer Real Estate Market: November 07. Dale Boddy's Look At Red DeerReal Estate: November 2006. Dale Boddy's Real Estate OUTLOOK: Red Deer 2007. Dale Boddy's Real Estate OUTLOOK: Red Deer 2006. Dale Boddy's Real Estate OUTLOOK: Red Deer 2005. Dale Boddy's Real Estate OUTLOOK: Red Deer 2004. Dale Boddy's Real Estate OUTLOOK: Red Deer 2003. Dale Boddy's Real Estate OUTLOOK: Red Deer 2002.
