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What's The Calgary Market Going to do?
Where will prices be in 6 months? 12 months?
Calgary Housing Market Forecast
MARKET UPDATE: The average price of a SF home in Calgary was $410,076 for the period Jun 01 - Jun 20, up 51% from same period last year.
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House prices soar toward $400,000
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Hot real estate market jumps 'beyond anyone's wildest dreams'
by Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald, Jun 03, 2006
In a red-hot housing market being called "a dream or a nightmare," the average price of a single-family home in Calgary is about to cross the $400,000 threshold. Family homes jumped an unprecedented $120,000 over last year, according to May statistics released by the Calgary Real Estate Board on Friday.
The startling 42.8 per cent increase has single-family homes selling for an average of $396,694.
Richard Corriveau, regional economist in Calgary for the Prairies and territories for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said the Calgary real estate market is "operating beyond anyone's wildest dreams." "I don't think anybody could have envisioned that price growth would be pushing 40 per cent. "Even with the realization of how hot the market is, 40 per cent is unprecedented," Corriveau said.
"It's either a dream or a nightmare depending on what side of the coin you're on. It totally blows me away."
The average price in May sales for all types of homes rose by 43.45 per cent -- or nearly $110,000 -- over last year to hit $358,214, the highest on MLS record.
Condominium sales also exploded in the month, with 1,001 properties changing hands. Sales for condominiums for the same period last year were 861.
The average condominium price in May rose by nearly $90,000 to $270,861, the highest in MLS history, compared to the $181,495 in May 2005 -- a 49.2 per cent increase and a 5.62 per cent rise from the April average price of $256,455.
The strength of the market is reflected in current MLS listings, with 115 Calgary properties for sale at $1 million or more, including one home in the southwest Bel Aire neighbourhood listed at $12 million on just over an acre of land. The house backs onto a ravine.
Rachelle Starnes, a realtor with Royal LePage Foothills, has a house listed in the southwest Patterson neighbourhood for $3.2 million.
"It's very exciting with what's going on with the high-end homes," said Starnes. "I think Calgary has the most beautiful homes in North America per capita just based on the quality of the homes. There's no other city quite like it. "The educated consumers in Calgary are flying all over the world finding the best of everything and putting them in their homes. Calgary is such an affluent city. You see magazine-quality homes everywhere."
In May, 48 homes in Calgary sold for more than $900,000 compared to 21 sales in that price category in May 2005. Last year, only 12 per cent of sales in Calgary exceeded $400,000 and so far this year it's pushing 30 per cent, said Corriveau. "We've seen a dramatic shift to the upper end of the market," added Corriveau.
Corriveau said there doesn't seem to be a slowing down of the market on the horizon.
"Obviously everybody's very concerned about where the market will be a year from now. I can't help but reiterate the fact that people are desperately trying to get into the market before mortgage rates rise further and that's what's fuelling a lot of the increase," he said.
Kevin Clark, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board, said May will probably be the peak in terms of unit sales.
"I don't think you'll see us break another record in June," said Clark. "What is impressive about the numbers is the confidence of the marketplace. People are buying. They're buying confidently. They're prepared to pay the prices -- not backing away from the prices. "The Calgary and regional real estate market continues to unfold with numbers predictable to the strong economic climate. We would anticipate a softening of unit numbers in the summer weeks ahead, but the prices to remain on a positive trajectory."
The average days on the market for a house in Calgary to sell was 17 days in May compared to 38 days a year ago. May combined residential sales totalled 3,550, the highest May on record, a 12.38 per cent increase over May 2005 when there were 3,159, and an increase of 4.75 per cent from last month's high of 3,389.
The breakdown of the May combined sales was 2,519 single-family residences, 1,001 condominium, and 30 mobile homes. May 2005 sales in the same categories were 2,274, 861, and 24 respectively.
The average combined residential sale price of $358,214 in May (compared to May 2005 at $249,719) was also a 4.79 per cent increase over April's average price of $341,838.
May residential combined listings totalled 4,137, a one per cent decrease from May 2005, when 4,178 listings came to market and showing a 15.82 per cent increase over the 3,572 homes listed in April.
"At the beginning of the year we saw opportunities in some communities and those communities really experienced strong activity," said Clark. "So there's been a levelling which is very typical in a marketplace."
The combined residential median price for May was $325,000 -- up 46.40 per cent from May 2005 when the median price was $222,000 and up 4.17 per cent from the median price in April of $312,000.
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Multiple Offers For Calgary Real Estate
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'Out of balance': Multiple Offers from Resale Buyers as Demand Outstrips Supply
Marty Hope, Calgary Herald, May 06, 2006
(Calgary) In a market that's "out of balance" in favour of sellers, Calgary's superheated resale housing sector is definitely not a place for the faint-hearted.
"I've been in situations where the street outside a listed home looks like a Wal-Mart parking lot at night -- cars running, lights on, people inside the cars eating hamburgers -- and in some cases, this goes on until midnight until all offers have been heard, counter-offers are made and the seller makes a decision," says Yolanda Van Dyck, who sells out of CIR Realtors' northeast office.
Not only did nearly one in three homes sold from January to March bring in bigger bucks than what the seller originally asked, 24 per cent of the deals were finalized less than two weeks after the "for sale" sign went up, says president Kevin Clark of the Calgary Real Estate Board.
A growing fact of life is the phenomenon of multiple offers -- more than one potential buyer fighting to outbid others to purchase a particular home. "This is not a market for the faint-hearted," says Clark. "Buyers and sellers have to be fully prepared for what could happen."
While multiple offers are swirling around the real estate industry, they typically only occur when a property shows well and is priced properly, says Dick Oakes, a partner in MaxWell Realty Inc.
"Is it good for the market? That depends," he says. "It's great for sellers, but terrible for buyers. There continues to be a shortage of selection and the market continues to be out of balance -- skewed to the sellers' side."
From January to March, 8,952 homes were sold -- an increase of nearly 32 per cent compared to the same period last year. During that time, the average price climbed almost 26 per cent, while the number of available homes slipped more than eight per cent.
Clearly, demand is outstripping supply.
The shortage of listings coupled with the strong demand is generating multiple offers, says Van Dyck.
In one particular case, her client's offer was one of two being considered, forcing Van Dyck to tell her client that if they wanted the house, the offer had to be increased. "The original offer was already above the list price -- but now we'll have to go (even) higher," says Van Dyck.
Although her client ultimately bought the house, it cost an extra $50,000.
"It's very tough on everybody out there and for every successful transaction, there are a lot of disappointed people," says Van Dyck.
One of those successful buyers was Lyndsi Irwin, who offered $7,000 more than the asking price for a 1,060-square-foot condominium in Evergreen that had been on the market for three days.
The 27-year-old teacher at Foothills Composite high school in Okotoks had been renting, but she was looking for somewhere closer to her job and at the opportunity to get into home ownership.
Hers was one of four initial offers made on the condo. Irwin was working with Josee LaBelle Hopkins of MaxWell Realty's Canyon Creek office to prepare an offer to purchase. She was in Hopkins' car when it was presented.
"I didn't go in with Josee when she talked with the owners, but waited anxiously in the car for 10 or 15 minutes -- although it seemed like hours -- but as it turned out, only one other party made a counter-offer," says Irwin as she packed up her rental apartment for the move.
The current market is difficult for both buyers and sellers to understand, says Ted Zaharko, broker-owner of Royal LePage Foothills. "Many purchasers have been frustrated by the frequency of multiple-offer situations, which have become the norm," he says.
The real estate board says the average length of time a home is on the market is 21 days, half the time it took a year ago. But desirable properties in well-established areas often sell in less than three days as well as above the asking price -- and "at times with upwards of 20 offers," says Zaharko.
These factors have made the Calgary resale market "difficult to navigate for both buyers and sellers," he says.
In the 30 years he's been in the business, Oakes has never seen anything like the current market.
"It's not really a healthy market," he says. "There is much more demand than there is product."
He recalled a couple of recent situations in which there were numerous multiple offers.
The first was a home priced in the $220,000 range that had 40 showings and 17 offers before selling for $31,000 more than the asking price.
Another priced at $998,000 had five offers in 17 hours and sold -- for cash -- at $52,000 more than the list price.
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Alberta Tops For Investment Real Estate |
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by Mario Toneguzzi, CanWest News Service, Calgary Herald, May 05, 2006 |
CALGARY -- Alberta is the best place in the country to buy residential real estate for long-term investment, according to the Real Estate Investment Network. In a list of top places in Canada to invest, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Alta., and Calgary are noted as the hot spots in the country for buyers to make money in residential real estate.
"This is for long-term fundamentals. Long-term hold," said Don Campbell, a real estate consultant, author and president of the Real Estate Investment Network. "The next three years all kinds of regions across the country are going to look spectacular. But these ones will outperform over the long period of time."
The rest of the top places for residential real estate investment include Kitchener-Waterloo in Ontario, Fort St. John, B.C., Barrie, Ont., Halifax and Hamilton.
Richard Corriveau, regional economist for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. for the Prairies and Territories, said the "one thing you can bank on is future appreciation."
"The difficulty for investors will be how do you cash flow a property. You purchase a new condominium, a new single-family home (they) might be very difficult to cash flow a property. A renter might not pay your carrying costs but you'll get the return at the back end of the sale once your home appreciates," Corriveau said.
He said it is difficult to determine how many people are buying residential real estate for purely investment purposes as opposed to living in the properties. "Anecdotally we hear upwards of a quarter of all new condominiums," Corriveau added.
"The question remains whether they are speculative investors and they intend to flip the property prior to the structure even being completed or whether they intend to rent it to people.
Campbell said that in British Columbia there's no question the Fort St. John region (and Dawson Creek) is "the No. 1 place to buy for investors." In Ontario, it's the Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge triangle.
"We're actually calling that the economic Alberta of Ontario. It's got strong, strong growth and lots of in-migration and average income is increasing quickly. If I was to invest anywhere outside of Alberta, that would be my second choice. Absolutely," Campbell said.
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Crazy Market Kicks Homes Past $360,000 |
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Single family house prices 31% higher than last year
by Geoffrey Scotton, Calgary Herald, April 06, 2006 |
Calgary's frenzied housing market hit new territory in March, with prices accelerating and records set across the board, including a $363,370 average price for single-family homes -- 31 per cent higher than a year ago. MARKET UPDATE: The average price of a SF home in Calgary was $410,076 for the period Jun 01 - Jun 20, up 51% from same period last year.
"The market is crazy and it's hard to . . . predict where all this is going. I see no end to it," Shanta Knight, a realtor with Re/Max Real Estate (Mountain View) Ltd., said Wednesday. She said many homes for sale attract multiple offers and sell above the asking price.
The combined average price for a home in Calgary leapt nearly seven per cent in March, hitting $325,481, while the combined median price -- the level where equal numbers of homes were sold above and below the figure -- climbed 6.4 per cent to $285,000. "If you're not in the market, I suggest you try and get into the market," said Knight. "I worry about the young people, the young families trying to get into the market. Calgary is getting in line with Vancouver and Toronto."
March's combined price was a stunning 30 per cent higher than a year earlier, while the median rose 29.6 per cent in the same time frame.
Still, there are deals to be had, said Brad Downey, a Halifax transplant who with his girlfriend has just purchased a home in Martindale. "You have to act really quick. We ended up getting a good deal, below market price, and that's pretty rare," said Downey. "I think the market inflation is beyond what the average person can afford. I don't think it can sustain itself."
However, analysts don't believe Calgary is in a real estate bubble, which, like its namesake, can burst at any time. "Housing affordability has not deteriorated by much in Alberta, suggesting that the recent ascent of house prices can be more fundamentally supported," said TD Financial Group economist Craig Alexander.
For single family homes, the average price rose to $363,370, up 31.3 per cent from $276,808 a year earlier and up 6.2 per cent in February. The median -- the point at which there are an equal number of homes at higher and lower prices -- was $325,000, up more than 32 per cent over a year and up 6.2 per cent from February.
Marla Nystrom-Smith and her husband recently upgraded from a townhouse in Citadel to a detached home in Evanston. Their townhouse sold in less than two days at more than $10,000 above the list price -- which they'd raised significantly just before listing. "Our heads were spinning. We were so in shock," said Nystrom-Smith.
Finding the right new home required they be flexible on location and other factors, and be ready to deal, she said.
"If you want to find a home this year in Calgary, you can't be too picky. I got most things that I wanted, but that was just luck."
Calgary's average condo price hit $235,427 in March, up 30 per cent from $181,037 in March 2005 and an increase of 8.4 per cent from February. The median price for condos rose nearly 34 per cent to $212,900 and more than 10 per cent from $193,500 February.
The number of condos sold in Calgary hit an all-time record at 995, an increase of nearly 27 per cent from March 2005 and a gain of 10 per cent from February.
Calgary Real Estate Board president Kevin Clark said Wednesday the real estate market is indicative of Calgary's wealth, fuelled by solid energy prices and overall prosperity. Buyers are responding to rising incomes and declining relative debt levels, he said. "What we're seeing is a repositioning of the marketplace that's happened quicker (than expected). The numbers speak to Calgarians, they say Calgarians are very confident with what's going on."
Accelerating prices had no discernible effect on demand, as the number of sales jumped 14.3 per cent during the month and 18.1 per cent from March of 2005 to 3,497, the highest-ever monthly figure.
The number of homes available for sale rose 22.3 per cent in March to 3,949, but remained 5.1 per cent lower than the number of listings in March 2005, which was 4,163. In recent months, listings have dipped as low as 1,563 in December, while March 2005's level represented the high water mark since the beginning of last year.
Sales in 2006 appear to be shifting into higher-priced categories of homes, with sales of homes priced at $500,000 and above in March more than doubling from a year earlier to 326, an increase of 174 per cent.
Similarly, the number of homes selling for $350,000 to $499,999 rose to 785 in March, a near tripling of the 274 seen in the same month a year before, while sales of homes priced between $250,000 and $349,999 rose 48.4 per cent.
In contrast, the number of homes sold in the $200,000 to $249,999 category stayed relatively stable, up five per cent to 638 units, while the volume of homes sold in the $150,000 to $199,000 range fell 39 per cent to 447. Sales of homes priced from $90,000 to $119,999 fell 80 per cent, while those priced between $120 and $149,000 dropped 62 per cent.
While Calgary may boast the hottest real estate market in the country, other cities are also posting gains, Royal LePage Real Estate Services said Wednesday. Nationally, detached bungalows rose to an average $282,059 in the first quarter of 2006, an 11 per cent gain from the first three months of 2005.
Standard two-story homes rose 9.2 per cent to an average $340,956, while standard condos climbed 8.8 per cent to $195,909.
However, "the story in Alberta follows a very different plot line," said Royal LePage president and chief executive Phil Soper.
"With a rapidly advancing economy fuelled by $60 (US) oil, the supply of homes for sale has not come close to meeting demand and as a result prices are marching upwards," said Soper.
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Home Buyers Hit Panic Mode
Average Price Jumps beyond $304,000
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by Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald, March 03, 2006
Calgary's resale housing market continued to defy the odds as it set another blistering pace in February with the average price of a single-family home hitting $342,000, according to figures released Thursday by the Calgary Real Estate Board. MARKET UPDATE: The average price of a SF home in Calgary was $410,076 for the period Jun 01 - Jun 20, up 51% from same period last year.
With the residential combined average selling price of homes (single-family, condominiums and mobile) now more than $304,000 and condominiums at more than $217,000, a panic has hit the marketplace for people seeking to buy a home.
Richard Corriveau, regional economist for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation in Calgary, said the numbers exceed all expectations. "This market is definitely accelerating," said Corriveau. "It's beyond hot."
When asked if there is a certain degree of panic setting in, Corriveau replied: "I believe that there is. Everybody knows that prices are escalating. Mortgage rates have bottomed out and are increasing. There's no selection available or relatively limited selection available. Rental vacancies are tight. And there's no inventory in the new home market."
Corriveau described the market as "night and day" from what it was a year ago -- and it was "red hot" then. The market is experiencing multiple offers on homes in excess of list price.
"In today's market, sellers are clearly in the driver's seat," said Corriveau. "The market certainly isn't performing as one would expect and it's not performing rationally. With the lack of product I would have expected that would stifle sales, but after two months they're up 42 per cent."
According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, February combined residential sales totalled 3,060 -- a 37.7 per cent increase over February 2005's sales of 2,223 and a 27.1 per cent increase over January 2006's sales of 2,408.
The breakdown of the February combined sales was 2,149 single-family residences, 905 condominium and six mobile homes. February 2005 sales in the same categories were 1,631, 584 and eight, respectively.
The average combined residential sale price for February 2006 was $304,560 -- a 26 per cent increase over February 2005 when the average price was $241,753 and a 5.3 per cent increase over January 2006's average price of $289,130.
Broken out, the following is a comparison of single-family, condominium and mobile home average sale prices for the month of February 2006 over 2005: single-family $342,104 / $265,316, condominium $217,181 / $178,730, and mobile home $37,417 / $38,350.
Condominium sales increased by 55 per cent while the average price in February rose by 21.5 per cent from a year ago.
February 2006 residential combined listings totalled 3,230 -- a 6.8 per cent decrease over February 2005's listings of 3,464, but an 8.4 per cent increase over last month's 2,981 listings.
Kevin Clark, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board, said February's real estate market demonstrated a situation where supplies remained limited and the demand high which resulted in increased prices and fast sales in many communities.
"We are not in a marketplace where you can say I only want to be in this one community with this style of house and this colour. It's a time I might (as a buyer) have to be a little bit more flexible," said Clark, adding the condominium marketplace has become very much a lifestyle choice by about 30 per cent of buyers.
The combined residential median price for February 2006 was $267,900 -- up 24.6 per cent from February 2005 when the median price was $215,000.
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Home Buying Frenzy Sends Prices Soaring |
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Single family average price tops $322,000
by Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald, February 07, 2006
A mild January combined with a huge demand for resale houses and a shortage of listings fuelled spectacular growth in MLS sales in Calgary for the first month of this year, with overall sales 49 per cent higher than January 2005.
Single family homes during the month hit an average selling price of more than $322,000, according to figures released Monday by the Calgary Real Estate Board. "The limited inventory is certainly providing an intensity to the marketplace that wouldn't be present if we had another thousand houses on the market," said Kevin Clark, president of CREB. "I don't think it in of itself is increasing the activity. We are just continuing to enjoy very strong economic times and that's reflected in the marketplace. And a reduced inventory reflects a certain urgency to the marketplace, but I wouldn't say it's the cause of it."
MARKET UPDATE: The average price of a SF home in Calgary was $410,076 for the period Jun 01 - Jun 20, up 51% from same period last year.
January 2006 residential combined listings totalled 2,981 -- a decrease of 14.12 per cent from January 2005's listings of 3,471. But they showed a 90.72 per cent increase from last month's 1,563 listings.
In January, the average day on the market for a home -- from listing to sale price -- was 32 days compared to 49 in January 2005, a 34.69 per cent decrease.
January combined residential sales totaled 2,408 -- a 49.38 per cent increase over January 2005's sales of 1,612, and a 28.29 per cent increase from December 2005's sales of 1,877. The breakdown of the January 2005 combined sales was: 1,759 single-family residences, 634 condominium, and 15 mobile homes. January 2005 sales in the same categories were: 1,171, 429, and 12 respectively.
The average combined residential sale price for January 2006 was $289,130 -- a 20.19 per cent increase over January 2005 when the average price was $240,565 and a 5.63 per cent increase over December 2005's average price of $273,716. Broken out, the following is a comparison of single-family, condominium, and mobile home average sale prices for the month of January 2006 over 2005: single-family $322,693/ $265,924; condominium $202,065/ $177,209; mobile home $33,259/ $30,885.
Condominium sales in January maintained a steady pace with 634 condominiums changing hands. This is a 47.79 per cent increase over January 2005 when the condominium sales were 429 and a 19.62 per cent increase over last month's sales of 530. The average price of a condominium in January 2006 was $202,065 -- an increase of 14.03 per cent from the same period last year when the average price was $177,209 and a 5.02 per cent increase over last month's average price of $192,412.
Richard Corriveau, senior market analyst in Calgary for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, said the numbers are "pretty hot and somewhat unseasonable."
"So is the weather," said Corriveau. "Last year, activity was really impacted by a deep freeze the first half of the year. We had lows of in excess of minus 30 so a lot of traffic I believe at the time was weakened due to the poor weather. We saw snow, heavy windchills as well. A lot of people perhaps might have stayed in the warmth of their home. "This year a totally different story. We saw unseasonably high temperatures.
"Only three days of January saw a high of below zero and the lowest of any high was minus three. It was fantastic weather. So a lot of people out there had spring fever . . . and that could have added to the level of sales activity."
Clark said he doesn't know for sure if the weather is playing a big part this year in the increase in sales, but "it's certainly not hurting."
"If you were my buyer, I would tell you it's interesting to me how when the weather is mild in the first couple of weeks of January it just seems . . . that we get busy earlier," said Clark.
Corriveau said that demand for resale houses remains strong, but he said he would be surprised if that level of an increase in sales would prevail by year end. "We don't think it will truly represent how the market will unfold for the year," said Corriveau. He said the price gains in January are "impressive and certainly a function of the record levels of demand but also due to the shortage of listings."
Clark said that although much of Calgary is experiencing a seller's market many communities have only seen "moderate" price increases.
The combined residential median price for January 2006 was $254,900 -- up 18.56 per cent from January 2005 when the median price was $215,000 and up 7.10 per cent from last month's median of $238,000.
Combined Residential Housing Stats
(Single family, condo, mobile homes)
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January 2006 |
January 2005 |
Change |
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Sales |
2,408 |
1,612 |
49.38% |
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Avg sale price |
$289,130 |
$240,565 |
20.19% |
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Median price |
$254,900 |
$215,000 |
18.56% |
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Dollar volume |
$696,224,883 |
$387,790,226 |
79.54% | |
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Calgary Homes Relatively Cheap
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Experts deny $300,000 price is out of reach
by Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald, January 13, 2006
The Calgary housing market continues to be affordable, despite new and resale single-family homes breaking the $300,000 average sale price barrier these days, say real estate industry experts.
Richard Corriveau, senior market analyst for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. in Calgary, said the city has "comparably lower prices than a lot of other markets" and breaking the $300,000 "psychological barrier" shouldn't have an impact on whether people buy homes. "Compared to major centres like Toronto and Vancouver, our product is relatively cheap," said Corriveau. "If the average single-family home is cost prohibitive for buyers, there's a lot of condominiums they can select which are an affordable option and, beyond that, there's a number of mortgage tools they could use to reduce their average monthly payment."
He said Calgarians enjoy among the highest household incomes in Canada and that doesn't include other sources of income for people working in the oilpatch, such as stock options or bonuses.
In 2005, new single-family homes averaged $315,796 in Calgary -- a 10.7 per cent increase from the previous year. Resale single-family homes hit an average selling price of $306,271 in December -- an almost 19 per cent increase from December 2004. This month, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board website, 515 properties in all categories have sold in Calgary with the average sale price at $290,676 >> MARKET UPDATE: The average price of a SF home in Calgary was $410,076 for the period Jun 01 - Jun 20, up 51% from same period last year. see Latest Calgary Market Stats
The country's housing market showed remarkable strength in the traditionally slower fourth quarter as sales activity in most major markets stimulated robust, year-over-year increases in average prices, according to a fourth quarter report released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
The highest average price appreciation occurred in detached bungalows, which rose to $269,810 (9.1 per cent), followed by standard condominiums, which increased to $190,123 (seven per cent), and standard two-storey properties, which rose to $327,269 (seven per cent).
"Homeowners in the energy-producing West saw the value of their properties appreciate at a much higher rate than elsewhere in Canada, reflecting a shortage in supply relative to the booming demand for home ownership," stated the report. "These areas enjoyed growth well above the national average, as their thriving economies generated strong income growth and attracted increased in-migration to the region."
Ted Zaharko, of Royal Le-Page Foothills in Calgary, said Calgarians are lucky their average incomes are fairly high.
"We've got two-income families doing pretty well," said Zaharko. "So the affordability factor is not as significant here in Calgary, I believe, than it is in other places. Zaharko said as prices increase, affordability factors will come into play. "People are going to have to adjust to that and they're going to have to go into a little more debt," he said. "The thing that's probably saving everybody right now is the fact that interest rates are fairly low."
Marilyn Jones, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board, said many people in Calgary have good jobs, which is a reason why many expensive properties are selling.
"But it's getting tough, I would say, for a person that's in an average job and not making a pile of money," said Jones. "You almost have to have two people working in order to be able to buy because even the small starter homes are now up close to $200,000."
Average price of a two-storey house in fourth quarter of 2005, compared to 2004:
Vancouver $703,750 +11.6%
Toronto $461,282 +4.0%
Victoria $394,000 +21.2%
Montreal $309,117 +2.6%
Calgary $282,989 +15.5%
Ottawa $269,714 +3.6%
Edmonton $214,857 +12.4%
Halifax $199,000 +10.2%
Winnipeg $189,100 +13.2%
Saskatchewan $168,042 +7.7%
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