CALGARY – Calgary will continue to be a buyer’s market in 2016, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB.)
CREB released its annual housing forecast on Wednesday, suggesting the benchmark price of a home would decline by 3.44 per cent this year to $438,652.
“Weak demand and supply gains are expected in 2016, adding to an already elevated level of inventory,” explained CREB in a Wednesday news release. “In this situation, the market’s ability to effectively absorb more inventory will be limited, resulting in some downward price pressure across all housing sectors.”
CREB anticipates a decline in housing prices for detached and attached homes, as well as apartments, with steeper declines in higher density segments, a trend which already started in the fourth quarter of 2015.
“This is related to the near record high level of multi-family units under construction. As these units are completed, there will be more product available for a smaller pool of buyers,” CREB said.
“The main risk to the housing outlook lies with the deepness of the pullback in demand and how that will translate into supply gains,” CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie said. “Any sign of sustained recovery in the energy sector could limit the impact on the housing market.”
The forecast from CREB echoed numbers in the Royal LePage Royal Market Survey Forecast which was also released on Wednesday. LePage anticipates an average price decrease of three per cent across the board.
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