The real estate industry in Lethbridge saw a busy couple of years but the pace has slowed as 2023 nears.
“Its a pretty good balance going on here; its making sure sellers are selling in a fair market and a buyer saying, ‘I’ve got a chance to make good decisions in a fair market’,” said Brad Cook, chair of the Lethbridge and District Association of Relators.
Cook added that, although the market has slowed, it is still very strong. The peak last year saw homes trading quickly. Now, the November stats from the Alberta Real Estate Association show inventory is up and home sales are down.
“Quite simply because interest rates have been a big influence, the federal governments influence has made people really pay attention to what they can afford, the budgets have changed,” said Cook.
David Agema, an associate broker with Century 21 Foothills South and the Zanoni Agema Turner Real Estate Group, said although rates have gone up, it’s still better than we’ve seen in the past — like the 80’s when they were more than 20 per cent.
“If you look at the graph, this is still historically one of the lowest rates of interest rates charged by any institutions to get into a home,” said Agema.
According to the Lethbridge and District Association of Relators, the total number of homes on the market in November is up from last year, but Agema added, it’s levelling out where it should after people raced to beat interest rate hikes.
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“Last year was an anomaly and now I would say it’s very balanced. The average length of time for a house selling is under 60 days of the houses that do sell, which shows its a good marketplace,” said Agema.
With our population continuing to increase, Cook added it’s important we have options because the need for affordable housing and housing in general will only grow.
“We are going to end up with a housing shortage here if we keep going the way we are going with inter-provincial migration and new residents to Canada,” said Cook.
The Bank of Canada is widely expected to raise its key interest rate again on Wednesday, with economists predicting a 0.25 or 0.5 percentage point increase.
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