The Red Deer real estate market starts the year with more of the same
Blake King – broker/owner, Big Earth Realty
In 2023 the Red Deer real estate market saw very low inventory numbers, higher-than-expected home sales, and price increases. Of course the first two lead to the third and after looking at January stats it looks like we could see more of the same in 2024.
Inventory
The number of homes for sale (inventory) increased from 1.7 to 2.4 M.O.I. (months of inventory) from January to February but it will take a few more months of tracking before we’ll know if inventory will be higher in 2024 than in 2023. The first 4 months of last year had inventory above the 2 M.O.I. for the first 4 months of the year.
I think we should see more homes on the market in 2024 as mortgages mature. However, it might not help much if those buyers also have to sell. We’ll likely see a shortage of housing for some time now but it might relax as builders feel more comfortable producing inventory.
Average price
The average sale price of homes in Red Deer increased in 2023 and the same will happen this year if inventory stays low.
Red Deer home prices increase across each segment in January. Detached prices increased by 0.2% looking at the 6-month running average, attached homes increased by 2.2%, and the overall average was up 0.5%.
For a few months in 2023, the overall home price average dropped even when in each segment prices increased. This was due to more homes selling in a lower price range.
Home sales
For most of 2023, we saw detached home sales decrease while attached home sales increased. More buyers were buying less expensive homes. But in the first month of 2024, the opposite happened.
Detached home sales in January 2024 were 2% higher than in January 2023 and attached homes were 7.3% lower.
Days on market
The increase in inventory might be the cause of longer D.O.M. (days-on-market). As the detached home inventory rate is higher than the attached inventory and as you can see above the D.O.M. for detached homes is longer than it is for attached homes. Again because more buyers are looking for lower-priced homes.
Summary
Almost all of the information above points toward it being a good time to sell your home if you can or need to. I also think it’s a good time to buy if you’re considering that.
Low inventory is allowing homes to sell higher right now (good for sellers). And, for the same reason, prices will continue to increase and buyers will save money buying sooner than later.
Check-in each month at www.iOnRealEstate.ca for Red Deer and Central Alberta real estate news, stats, and information.
Download a copy of the Red Deer real estate infographic – https://www.ionrealestate.ca/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/Feb-inforaphic.pdf
