A Cochrane-based realtor is telling buyers and sellers to be cautious about the information they might use to make decisions on their future home prospects.
Over the past week, both the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) and Zoocasa, a national real estate blog, both released reports suggesting Cochrane has entered into a seller's market in terms of its real estate profile.
Kendra Watt with CIR Realty said both Zoocasa and CREA don't have a solid handle on micro-markets in the region and are taking a very general view of a much more complex situation. She added it can be frustrating to see media reports using nationally-sourced data to define market conditions that can vary not only by municipality but neighbourhood.
For example, while Zoocasa describes Cochrane as a seller's market, Watt said that it isn't true in some areas. Whereas she might see homes in Glenbow, Cochrane Heights and the East End turnover quickly, some areas, especially where developers are still adding homes to the market, have slower movement.
Instead, Watt said that a decline in inventory has created a more balanced market in town – a precursor to a seller's market. However, whether those conditions persist will depend largely on supply and demand. Watt said the market is cyclical in terms of fluctuating housing prices, which continue to be down compared to previous years - and as supply dwindles and prices inflate more homes will come on the market possibly resulting in a reverse trend.
While the past four months have seen a strengthening market and the Calgary Real Estate Board's latest report states new listings in the community have declined which has caused "oversupply to ease, supporting more stability in pricing. As of July, the benchmark price in Cochrane is $408,300, over four per cent lower than last year’s levels."
Watt said the past four months have been encouraging, but four months is a small sample size when compared to four years of depressed conditions caused when the oil sector crashed and plunged Alberta into one of its worst bust cycles in recent memory.
"You never know you've hit the bottom until you start to go back up," said Watt. That being said, she believes it's a good time to invest in real estate as new inventory has stalled while people wait for values to go back up.
She adds the latest bust combined with new mortgage stress testing has meant many are spending under their approved mortgage values.
