July 1 2014 – Market Update
Sales in Red Deer in June dropped off slightly from the incredible pace set in May, but it was still a very strong month. Year to date sales are up almost nine percent which is a strong increase over a very good year last year. The number of active listings has kept pace and actually brought the sales to listing ratio down a little, although it still signals a very strong seller’s market.
June brought some relief for buyers in the $250,000 ‐ $350,000 price range. Sales actually fell off while the number of active listings increased. The $350,000 ‐ $450,000 was a little less friendly to buyers with the ratio of sales to listings favouring sellers.
The strong market we have experienced this year is the result of a strong economy that creates lots of jobs and encourages migration from the rest of Canada and the world. Population growth creates demand for new construction which is in itself an economic driver. In 2013 Alberta’s population grew by 3.25%, the fastest in Canada by double. In the first quarter of 2014, we managed a net gain of more than 9,500 people ‐ on pace for a 40,000 net gain for the year.
