Canmore real estate sales rising against sliding market in Calgary
CBC News | Posted: August 20, 2015 2:55 PM | Last Updated: August 20, 2015
July sales highest in 13 months in mountain town
The sliding Calgary housing market isn't affecting sales in the town of Canmore, where real estate records show the number of homes sold in July was up from the same time the year before.
- Average house price up 9% in July to $437,699, CREA says
- Calgary's drop in housing starts good news, says real estate analyst
- Canadian house prices up 1.2% in July, but Calgary drops
Sales of homes over the $1-million mark in the mountain town were up as well.
"I don't think any of us expected how strong the market was going to be the past three or four months. It's been really, really good," said Christopher Vincent of Sotheby's International.
Slumping sales in other parts of Alberta have not had an impact on Canmore, where Vincent has just sold a home for more than $3 million.
Canmore's market is fuelled by several factors, according to Royal LePage realtor Brad Hawker
"(The) Canadian dollar is keeping Canadians within Canada. As well, as we're seeing more U.S. license plates here," he said.
While prices overall are down slightly, the industry points to tourism for boosting Canmore's July housing sales.
The economy outside the mountain town has some buyers who were looking for secondary properties backing off, but Hawker says he's not expecting a slump in Canmore sales any time soon.
Both Hawker and Vincent say inventory levels have also come down in recent months, which for realtors is another good indicator the market in Canmore is stable.