The Fall Buying/Selling Season

Looking to make a move this fall in the Canmore and area market?

The fall months are typically a time of year in the Bow Valley where there is a flurry of activity in the real estate market. The summer months are usually filled with leisure activities and vacation time and it is also a time when investors will see the most returns from nightly rentals. As a result, many property owners in Canmore hold off on listing their home or investment until the fall. Similarly, buyers who have taken a break from their home search for the summer months re-enter the picture and look to capitalize on increased inventory levels, making for a good time to buy or sell your Canmore property. There is a window of time where buyers and sellers are also motivated…

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Finally ready to shop for the perfect Canmore condo? Here's what you need to know:

So you're ready to start the hunt for the perfect mountain getaway? Great! Canmore is a truly unique and special place. What used to be a somewhat unknown small town off to the side of the Trans-Canada is now a hugely popular travel destination. There is so much to do in Canmore and the surrounding areas. From sight-seeing and shopping to spas, galleries, restaurants, hiking, mountain biking, cross-country skiing, fishing and so much more. Purchasing a property in this picturesque town is high on the wish-list of many buyers from all corners of the country and beyond.

is buying a condo in canmore any different than buying a condo elsewhere in canada?

The short answer is: Yes. There are several differences to familiarize yourself with that will help…

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Exshaw | The next Dead Man's Flats?

What is going on in exshaw real estate these days?

Exshaw, Alberta is one of those small towns that comes up as an unexpected surprise when driving along a scenic back road. Personally, I had never heard of it until one summer day when I was trying to avoid weekend traffic on the TransCanada Highway heading west out of Calgary. The alternate route 1A offered a bit of reprieve from the seemingly endless line of cars headed to the mountains for some summer fun and the spectacular scenery winding along through the foothills and past the Bow River wasn't bad either. Exshaw emerges along the route as a mix of industrial and residential buildings nestled up against the base of Exshaw Mountain and a 2021 population of 449 people according to StatCan. 

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Canmore Real Estate Mid-March Update

spring market preview?

There is a lot of hype about real estate in Canada these days and many people are wondering where the market is going to go this year. With the previous 2 years of heightened sales activity and sellers making big gains, this year could be a turning point...Or it could be totally unremarkable. Rising interest rates have put the squeeze on buyers and low inventory has left homeowners wondering where they would go if they did sell. 

So far in Canmore, sales for the month of March are on pace with pre-pandemic numbers and inventory is consistently low. There have been 19 closings so far at the time of writing and currently 104 active listings on MLS. Of those active listings, the average days spent on market is 71 and sellers…

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2022 Canmore Real Estate | Year in Review

2022 Residential real estate statistics

Lack of inventory was the main theme to start off 2022 which continued to push sale prices higher into the spring and early summer. Bank of Canada interest rate hikes, designed to cool off rising inflation would ultimately have a cooling effect on the overheated real estate market as well. Sale prices in Canmore had been testing the upper limits of what buyers were willing to pay for some time and by April/May we saw the peak of the market and then a bit of a pullback in prices as uncertainty crept in around the direction of interest rates. Stories from across the country began to emerge of big price declines but Canmore did not experience such a drastic shift and low inventory persisted for the remainder of the…

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2021 Canmore Real Estate | Year in Review

2021 canmore real estate overview

A lot of properties changed hands in Canmore in 2021. In fact the average number of sales for the 3 years prior was 459 and 2021 saw a near 70% increase to 770 units sold. The pandemic changed the way we live, work, recreate and travel - to name a few - and as related restrictions were eased and the economy started to open again Canadians were left with limited options when it came to vacation and travel. Not surprisingly, recreational real estate markets across the country began to sizzle with the average sale price predicted to rise by as much as 30% in some markets. Many Canadian families were able to save more than usual in 2020 and a study conducted on behalf of Re/Max found that 59% of buyers who intended to…

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2020 Year End Market Report

2020 Canmore Real Estate Year-in-Review

Not much more can be said about 2020 so the purpose of this blog post is to discuss real estate trends in Canmore from the past year while trying to disconnect a bit from the reasons why it played out the way it did.  Looking back at the 2019 Year-in-Review, our prediction for 2020 was that the market would keep moving away from a seller's market and more towards balanced market conditions that didn't favour the buyer or seller.  As the year progressed that actually turned out largely to be the case. Despite all of the outside "noise", buyers and sellers found they were on equal ground and there may have even been a bit of downward pressure on prices.  There was a buildup of inventory prior to the summer and then…

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The Post-Pandemic Real Estate Market

So, what is the market like now that life is starting to return to normal?

It has been just over 90 days since the government started announcing widespread closures of schools, borders, businesses, recreation facilites, places of worship and parks and playgrounds.  Life came to a grinding halt for the majority of Canadians and given the information we were receiving from the media, it was hard not to worry that a real estate market crash was in the works.  Buyers became incredibly uneasy and scaled back their searches while sellers, equally nervous, either took their properties off the market or implemented screening and sanitizing protocols.  The spring months are a time when we typically see the most new listings hitting the market and buyers are…

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Buying and Selling Canmore Real Estate During a Pandemic

Real Estate Deemed Essential Service

Soon after the government started putting restrictions on the types of business that could operate during the pandemic the real estate industry was deemed to be an essential service.  It's true, regardless of the world's economic/political climate, property owners are always going to need to buy and sell homes because these types of transactions are most often connected with life stages and as such, life tends to continue on.  When Covid-19 started emerging as a serious threat to Canadians in late February, buyers became leery and sellers became extra cautious.  Some took their properties off the market entirely while others took extra steps to protect themselves, their families, and potential buyers.  Some even…

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2020 1st Quarter Market Summary

January-March Home Sales by the Numbers: 

Summary

Real estate sales in Canmore and the rest of the Bow Valley got off to a slow start in 2020 with -20 degree temperatures throughout the area.  That being said, when February rolled around and things warmed up a bit it was like "someone flipped on a switch."  New listings were hitting the market regularly and…

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