2010 has been a busy year so far; the Olympic torch came to the Bow Valley, the weather and snow have been great, buyers are busy, and we have a couple of great new listings. As we get into February, we are looking forward to cheering on our local athletes at both the Cross Country World Cup and the Olympics.
We are very pleased to be showcasing our listings with their own individual pages on our new team site - CanmoreBanffRealEstate.ca. There are no other REALTORS® in the Bow Valley using this comprehensive a marketing tool and we feel our properties are out-shining their competition.
In conjunction with our Team site, we are excited to have partnered with LuxuryHomes.com to showcase some of our featured listings. This is excellent exposure for our high-end properties with only one other Real Estate Team in the Bow Valley using their services.
We are looking forward to another great month as 2010 continues to outperform 2009. As of February 2nd, there were already 13 conditional sales in Canmore. Five of these sales went conditional in less than a week of being listed.
A great start to the New Year! Sales this past January were over double those of January 2009. Sales this past month were a mixture of both entry level homes and some higher end properties. Currently, we are seeing a lot of buyers actively working in the Canmore and area market looking to take advantage of prices and interest rates.
As we move forward into 2010, we continue to remain in a buyer's market; with over 300 properties currently actively listed. A positive note for the resale market is that there are far fewer new and pre-sale units currently being offered for sale; as many developments are now complete or on hold. The competition remains tight for the buyer's dollar as many properties are being offered at very attractive prices. With the great values and selection, we continue to see many young families moving into their first single family homes and selling their entry level apartments or townhomes. This segment of the market continues to make up the majority of the sales volume that we are currently seeing change hands.
The second home buyer is certainly active once again in the Bow Valley. Not in the same capacity as two or three years ago, however over the past few months there has been a strong resurgence of interest in recreational properties. Alberta's Real Estate market continues to show resilience and some very strong growth forecasts. The Conference Board of Canada has forecast Calgary to lead the country in growth through 2011. This bodes well for the Bow Valley, as confidence returns to the Calgary market many buyers will again begin to look at Canmore.
This February, Canmore is host to the final World Cup Cross Country ski event prior to the Olympics. Tourism Canmore in conjunction with the organizing committee are anticipating a very strong international media presence here to show case our amazing Valley. Come out and support Canada's Olympic Athletes February 4th - 7th and enjoy the festivities being put on downtown. Events such as this continue to showcase Canmore and Banff on the world stage and are excellent exposure for our communities.
Moving forward into the year, we will remain in a buyer's market until at least early summer. With current inventory levels, we do not foresee any major increases in values until inventory levels drop a bit lower. Currently, the sale price to asking price ratio is hovering around 93-94%; a more balanced market will be somewhere in the 95-96% range. Many may not be aware, that until recently the last time there was a buyer's market in Canmore was summer of 2001.
