Sales are up!  Is that the only reason why you should be buying a home now?

Reasons why you should buy Red Deer real estate now.

• Sales are UP.  You're not buying in a declining market but while the market is growing.  This is good for your investment and sets you on the right track to equity growth (a.k.a Wealth).
• Listing Inventory is Down.  While a lot of real estate listings to choose form is a good thing when your shopping, the fact that inventory has steadily been declining and the sales to listing ration improving means that the market is more balanced and moving towards conditions favourable to a sellers market and stronger price growth.  We may not have consistent price growth now, but we're definitely heading that way.
• Interest rates are low.  I think this is a broken r4ecord statement as we've been telling people that rates are low for a few years now.  If you think rates between 5% and 7% are extremely high then you don't really know how fortunate you are that you can get a mortgage in that 3%-4% range.  Wow! is all I can say.  that is low, but be careful to not extend your self to tight because if they do rise we could get pinched.
• Economic Conditions May Change.  Not a scare tactic but a reality ion today's market and government.  The Feds just recently changed the amortization and refinancing requirements and gave the banks a short 3 week notice compared to months previously.  No more 30 year amortizations.  Will they decrease from 25 to 20?  Will they eliminate 5% down?  Who knows.  Anybody out there predict the changes in the last few months?

I'm not an economist nor a banker so contact one of those people for insights on those things.  I can tell you about the real estate market.  Here is the market info to solidify your real estate decisions. 

Sales volume is up for Red Deer MLS® residential.

The peak for sales reported was actually April this year.  A little earlier than what we would have expected.  May would usually be the month where most of the contracts are written.  It's important to note this is when sales are reported "unconditional", not necessarily when people move in.

Sales by price range, is a great thing to look at.  What price range is your home or your purchase happening in and how does that piece of the market look.  It looks like this:

The bulk of activity happens in the middle ranges $250-$350,000.

As mentioned listing inventory or the supply of homes to choose from has been declining in Red Deer.

Today there are approximately 527 Active residential MLS® listings in Red Deer compared to 657 a year ago.  Not a massive decline or shortage but that gradual decline has improved the balance and strengthed the prices.

From the earlier chart showing the sales by price range you can get a sense that the more sales in the higher end can influence price and it certainly does.

The impact on price looks like:

What do you think?  Are we in a "safe buying" period where your equity is more likely to grow?

Have real estate questions, let us know.

Patrick.