Everyone has their opinion about what is going on in our real estate market and I wanted to share mine with all of you.
Most REALTORS® are certainly very aware that our real estate market has been negatively impacted over the past 18 months. There isn’t one factor that can be pointed out to be the sole problem, but we know one thing for sure that our market WILL rebound, as it always has in the past. Some people say that it’s the oil industry that has caused our problem. I say that the real estate market is affected by so many other factors as we know our economy has experienced good diversification over the past number of years. It is a combination of political, oil and gas, an over-built market of condos, lack of a pipeline, increase in minimum wage, the pending 2026 Olympic decision, changes in mortgage rules (earlier this year), over-supply of listings, etc…. Our Calgary Real Estate Board stats have not seen the kind of volatility that we’ve experienced this year in the past 10 + years.
When will things turn around? My crystal ball is broken as most are, but after speaking to many of my industry colleagues there is one common denominator that we need to keep in the forefront. That is simply “remain positive” because things WILL improve. Yes, many people have lost their jobs over the course of the last few years and this alone has had a significant impact on our market which has definitely attributed to our current buyer’s market. Many REALTORS® have left the industry, others have had to get part time, or even fulltime jobs to feed their families. My outlook is that we will remain in this current market until mid to end 2019, but once we get beyond that, things will ease in our market. You may consider this to be harsh but we have to be realistic.
Have we been spoiled for too long? Perhaps we have. Now in western Canada, in particular Saskatchewan & Alberta we are watching places like Ottawa, and Montreal, experiencing robust real estate markets. Places like Toronto & Vancouver have cooled some, but are still well above Calgary, Edmonton, Saskatoon, Regina, Winnipeg. Once things start to turn around in 2019 we will experience good growth because our markets will be looked at as very affordable.
To my real estate colleagues, I ask one thing, please remain positive and make this positiveness to be infectious to your friends, clients, your fellow REALTORS®, and your own families. In the meantime, do whatever you need to do to sustain yourselves in the market and be ready for the “next wave” because it IS coming our way.
I’m proud that, we as REALTORS® at MaxWell Canyon Creek, get to do what we do every day and I’m very pleased to be your Broker. As always, if you have any questions I’m here to help you.
Sincerely,
Roger Arsenault
Broker/GM
MaxWell Canyon Creek