Alberta has the highest rate of first-time homebuyers in the country, according to a new report released Tuesday by the Canadian Association of Accredited Mortgage Professionals.
The report, A Profile of Home Buying in Canada, found that 55 per cent of Alberta homes purchased in the past 27 months were by first-time buyers compared with the national average of 45 per cent.
The report said the Alberta number is due to migration patterns.
“Alberta sees large inflows of young adults looking for work opportunities,” it said.
Of the 75,000 homes sold in Alberta during that period, 40,000 were by first-time buyers, 15,000 were second-time buyers, and 20,000 were subsequent purchases.
In Canada, first-time buyers numbered 280,000 of the 620,000 sold followed by 130,000 second-time buyers and 210,000 subsequent purchases.
The breakdown in Alberta for the types of homes sold were: 45,000, detached; 10,000, semi-detached; 15,000, condo apartment; and 5,000, other.
In the province, the highest percentage of home sales, at 18 per cent, fell in the price range of $400,000 to $449,000.
Jim Murphy, president and chief executive of the association, said first-time homebuyers “are some of the most engaged, enthusiastic and well-researched groups in the market.”
Most of them are also between 25 and 34 years old.
“One of the reasons that Alberta has a higher first-time buyers percentage is there’s obviously just a lot of younger people looking for work and moving to Alberta since 2013 and so then picked up in the housing market,” said Murphy. “Overall, Alberta’s population is younger than the national average. Overall, Alberta’s population has been growing certainly up until the end of 2014 at a rate much higher than the national average … Those things lead you to a much higher first-time buyers’ market. A lot of it driven by just jobs, employment opportunity.”
That opportunity also presented itself in higher-paying jobs.
“The majority of jobs in Canada until the end of 2014 were created in Alberta,” added Murphy.
According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, there were 8,013 MLS sales in the city this year up until the end of May. The following are the number of sales in the lower price ranges — 181, $100,000-$199,999; 1,215, $200,000-$299,999; 895, $300,000-$349,999; 1,135, $350,000-$399,999; and 1,120, $400,000-$449,999.
A total of 4,546 MLS transactions this year have been under $450,000, representing almost 57 per cent of all the sale in the city.
“Entry level priced homes are a hot commodity and in a seller’s market. For example, there is only a 0.7 month supply of detached homes available under $400,000 but 6.7 months of inventory for detached homes priced above $800,000,” said Mike Fotiou, associate broker with First Place Realty.
mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com
The report, A Profile of Home Buying in Canada, found that 55 per cent of Alberta homes purchased in the past 27 months were by first-time buyers compared with the national average of 45 per cent.
The report said the Alberta number is due to migration patterns.
“Alberta sees large inflows of young adults looking for work opportunities,” it said.
Of the 75,000 homes sold in Alberta during that period, 40,000 were by first-time buyers, 15,000 were second-time buyers, and 20,000 were subsequent purchases.
In Canada, first-time buyers numbered 280,000 of the 620,000 sold followed by 130,000 second-time buyers and 210,000 subsequent purchases.
The breakdown in Alberta for the types of homes sold were: 45,000, detached; 10,000, semi-detached; 15,000, condo apartment; and 5,000, other.
In the province, the highest percentage of home sales, at 18 per cent, fell in the price range of $400,000 to $449,000.
Jim Murphy, president and chief executive of the association, said first-time homebuyers “are some of the most engaged, enthusiastic and well-researched groups in the market.”
Most of them are also between 25 and 34 years old.
“One of the reasons that Alberta has a higher first-time buyers percentage is there’s obviously just a lot of younger people looking for work and moving to Alberta since 2013 and so then picked up in the housing market,” said Murphy. “Overall, Alberta’s population is younger than the national average. Overall, Alberta’s population has been growing certainly up until the end of 2014 at a rate much higher than the national average … Those things lead you to a much higher first-time buyers’ market. A lot of it driven by just jobs, employment opportunity.”
That opportunity also presented itself in higher-paying jobs.
“The majority of jobs in Canada until the end of 2014 were created in Alberta,” added Murphy.
According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, there were 8,013 MLS sales in the city this year up until the end of May. The following are the number of sales in the lower price ranges — 181, $100,000-$199,999; 1,215, $200,000-$299,999; 895, $300,000-$349,999; 1,135, $350,000-$399,999; and 1,120, $400,000-$449,999.
A total of 4,546 MLS transactions this year have been under $450,000, representing almost 57 per cent of all the sale in the city.
“Entry level priced homes are a hot commodity and in a seller’s market. For example, there is only a 0.7 month supply of detached homes available under $400,000 but 6.7 months of inventory for detached homes priced above $800,000,” said Mike Fotiou, associate broker with First Place Realty.
mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com
