Okotoks real estate is still afloat despite a dismal outlook for the Calgary market, say local realtors.
According to the 2016 Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) mid-year update report, the City of Calgary can expect to see a continuing decline in house prices driven by an over-saturated housing market and a struggling economy.
The report paints a slightly more optimistic picture in Okotoks.
Though overall sales activity has eased and sits about 14 per cent below long-term averages, the CREB report says there hasn’t been significant change in the number of listings or the average price of single detached homes in town over 2015.
Local realtor Roberta Gullacher, of RE/MAX Signature Properties, said her business tapered off last year but began picking up again in March. There has been a lot of activity in town, she said.
“One of the realtors from our office said she’s been busier than 2007, which I’m not quite that busy but it’s seemed to be a good year,” said Gullacher. “I think we seem to be ahead or behind past years off an on for a few weeks at a time.”
She said Okotoks prices have held out this year while those in other communities, including Calgary, are dropping by up to five per cent. The market that does continue to see some downward pressure is single-detached homes priced at between $500,000 to $700,000, she said.
“There’s a lot of inventory there, and the price has come down in the higher range,” said Gullacher. “Probably anything under $500,000 is selling best.”
The biggest problem on the market is the number of people trying to hold out for housing prices to drop even more, she said. It’s led to a buyer’s market with a rush of homes on the market and people are taking their time to jump into investments.
Summertime tends to be a little slower still, she said, particularly at the end of August as people wind up for fall activities and back-to-school. Despite the slow-down, she said she believes the market will pick up this fall.
“I get calls daily, so I think it’s going to be a strong market,” said Gullacher. “I think it will be fine after Sept. 15 when everyone else has settled into their routine.”
Okotoks realtor Ryck Flemmer, of Century 21 Foothills, said he’s not as optimistic heading into the tail end of 2016. While he said he’s had one of his best years ever, the market is somewhat imbalanced and unpredictable, he said.
“Summer does historically slow down but I’m finding this summer has been even slower than it has been in the past, so I’m not overly optimistic that in the fall it’s going to get better,” said Flemmer. “There could be, in a normal winter lull, some prices going down a bit more. It could be a bit harder to sell a home over the winter this year.”
Although not as strong as previous years, he said the real estate market in Okotoks is not entirely unhealthy. The issues are primarily based on unemployment and how long it will take to restore Alberta’s economy, he said.
“We’re going to have to get some balance, we’re going to have to get job stability, find some way to get people back to work before we start thinking there’s anything positive coming in the near future,” said Flemmer. “It’s going to be status quo for the next six to nine months, I think.”
His success over the past year came as a surprise, he said. With the economic downturn, he said he wasn’t expecting to see as much movement as he did on the market.
It comes down to basic supply and demand, and household income, he said.
“We probably get a little bit more stability here with a little bit more household income, so maybe we have a little bit more job stability,” said Flemmer. “That shows on the housing market, because our numbers are not far behind last year.”
For the first few months of the year, sales in Okotoks were within two per cent of total sales during the same time period in 2015, he said.
There has been some downward pressure on prices in Okotoks, though he said enough people are still buying houses to prevent the market from going stagnant.
“We’re not building inventory up at an outrageous rate,” said Flemmer. “We’ve probably gone from where we’d like it, with two-and-half or three months’ inventory, to a point where we’re probably closer to four month’s worth.”
While some homes are selling well at lower price points, he said there are a number of people with homes in the $500,000 plus range who have pulled their houses off the market, adding them to the rental pool or doing renovations to wait out the storm.
He said overall the Okotoks market is fairly healthy, despite being lower than the past several years.
“We don’t see desperation, we don’t see a lot of foreclosure or anything coming on the market at any given time,” said Flemmer. “It’s in and around what I would say is relatively balanced.”
