Calgary’s home sales and prices are already outpacing the forecast for this season, which is leaving homebuyers with less time to make decisions. According to a Global Calgary story, CREB was predicting a 3% rise for fall, but October has already seen a 7% increase thus far.
CREB’s president says the fall market is stronger than they’ve seen in about four years, driven by an influx of new Calgarians and a tight rental market.
“The low vacancy rate has a big impact,” explains Becky Walters. “Tenants getting the bump in their rent are going, ‘well, if I’m going to pay that, then I’d be willing to pay that in a mortgage payment.”
She recommends that buyers get their financing and down payments in order, before they start house shopping. Sellers should also buy a new property before listing their current one, to give themselves some extra time. – from Global Calgary
So a few factors playing into this market condition, clearly the tight (and expensive) rental market is having an impact on the number of homebuyers in the marketplace right now. And if prices are going to continue to rise, with barely any rental vacancy, homebuying is becoming a smarter decision for a lot of people. The best way to decipher if you can afford a home, and how much of a mortgage you can carry, you should speak to a mortgage professional and get a pre-approval before you look at what’s out there. You’ll need to move quickly if you find something, so you should be prepared for that.
If you have any questions on the market conditions, or mortgage approval process, please feel free to contact me.
