Anyone who knows Canmore, Alberta knows that home prices here have been setting record breaking price increases year over year for over 10 years now. The town has seen exponential growth in this time with large condominium complexes and extremely high end single family homes seemingly being constructed at a breakneck pace. Buyers from all over the world, taking advantage of the weak Canadian dollar couldn't purchase quickly enough and in the same vein, builders and sellers were cashing in on huge gains in their property prices and selling at or above full list price. It was most definitely a sellers market.
Then August 2007 hit. That's when we noticed the market start to slow down and it's continued it's slow down ever since. A healthy sellers market in Canmore in the past has been 150 to 180 Properties on the market. Today we are sitting at 397 Properties on the market and sellers having to negotiate -something that has been quite foreign to them in the past.
It's taken over 10 years but we are finally in a true buyer's market - WOOHOO! We've seen prices withdrawing back to 2006 prices making property much more affordable and very attractive to buyers looking for a deal. We have a large second family home component to our town which primarily drove the real estate prices over the past 10 years or so, but at the same time it drove many families working in the valley to other towns and cities as prices for homes became out of reach. The market correction we're going through now will hopefully help to keep the local families in the area which is incredibly important in our tight knit service oriented community of Canmore.
As for stats - from the Period of June 2007 to December 2007 we sold 550 properties and listed 566. For that same time period in 2008 we sold 123 properties and listed 657!
Whether you're a first time buyer or someone looking for a vacation property in Canmore, we haven't had a Buyer's market like this EVER! - There's lots of choice, great pricing and the ability to negotiate with sellers much more aggressively than in previous years. Couple this with some fantastic mortgage rates, the latest I've heard of is a 5 year fixed for 4.29% and Buyers will truly hit jackpot when finding a place in this wonderful town.
Now is the time to Embrace Life and Live Your Dream in Canmore.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
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