November 3, 2009

Welcome To Calgary Condos

Posted by Corey.   0 Comments

Welcome to the blog for CalgaryCondosForSale.com, a brand new website where you can browse Calgary condos and find some of the best deals available in Calgary and surrounding areas.

This year has been an interesting one. There’s been lots of doom and gloom news about the real estate industry worldwide and here in Calgary, the kind of news that slows you down in your plans to buy a new condo.

We’re here to tell you it’s not all bad news:

Interest rates have dropped. You can get a mortgage easily and you’ll have low payments. We work with mortgage brokers who can help you with financing, but you probably won’t need our help on this front.

According to a recent Calgary Sun article,

“A few months ago, if you were going to borrow a five-year variable mortgage, it would have been prime plus one, but now it’s in the range of prime or even less than prime in specific situations…

What the Bank said was, barring any extra inflation pressure, it won’t raise its rate until mid-2010, which means the prime rate that impacts variables will stay the same at 2.25 percent, versus a five-year fixed rate of 4.34 percent, which is still a good rate when you look at history.”

OK, let’s say you’ve borrowed the cash at great interest rates. Now let’s talk about prices.

It looks like condo prices are on the rise again (monthly, even though the year-to-date averages versus 2008 are lower). Inventory has stabilized. Buyers are back. You might want to think about buying soon, while there are still bargains.

Here’s what Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation says will happen to average Calgary MLS prices:

“The average MLS® price is on track to decline five per cent in 2009 to $384,500. Although the yearly average price will decline, the monthly average price has been trending up since the second quarter of 2009.

The recent upward trend in price is anticipated to carry through into 2010, leading to a five per cent increase in average price to $403,000.

Here are the MLS numbers for condos:

Oct ’09 – 460 condo sales for an average of $284,511

Oct. ’08 – 399 condo sales for an average of $289,148

Keep in mind the Calgary real estate story is not only told by MLS numbers. Many new developments are not listed on MLS. CalgaryCondosForSale.com delivers better-than-MLS prices on brand new real estate. Look here first for the best deals on condos!