JUST LIKE A HEATWAVE

Condo pace picks up steam in city
By Claire Young
Calgary Herald May 18, 2012

Compared to the last three months of 2011, resale condos sold faster from Jan. 1 to the end of March in three of four quadrants of the city, says the Calgary Real Estate Board.

All of the board’s zones except for Zone A — which roughly corresponds to the city’s northwest — sold more quickly than during October to December.

In Zone A, condos took an average of 58 days to sell — three more than during the last quarter.

Condos in Zone B, which roughly consists of northeast Calgary, averaged 58 days on market, down from 64 in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, Zone C — roughly southwest Calgary — saw the hottest sales with an average of 49 days on market, down from 60.

And Zone D, which is roughly consists of southeast Calgary, saw a six-day drop to an average of 50 days on market.

The new year brought many more listings for condos.

From Jan. 1 to the end of March, there were 2,702 new listings in the city compared with 1,644 during October to December.

The bulk of the new listings were in Zone C, with 1,492 added. This zone also saw the most sales at 783, up again from last quarter’s 612.

The only neighbourhood to hit triple-digit sales in 2012’s first quarter was Connaught in Zone C, which saw a tidy 100 sales averaging $309,451.

Other neighbourhoods in Zone C that sold well were Victoria Park with 48 sales averaging $351,754, and Bankview with 32 sales averaging $262,512.

The most expensive neighbourhood from Jan. 1 to the end of March was Varsity Estates in Zone A, which had two sales averaging $598,750.

The most affordable neighbourhood was also in Zone A — Highland Park, which had one sale for $79,000.

During the first three months of 2012, the average sale price increased in all zones except Zone D — where this quarter’s average sale of $259,768 marked a decline from last quarter’s $268,998.

Zone C had the highest average sales at $307,822, an increase from $298,960.

Zone A’s average sale was $281,193, up almost $10,000, while Zone B was up a little more than $4,000, with an average sale of $173,544.