Since January 1st — that’s 2 months ago – average prices in Calgary are UP almost 8%. In TWO MONTHS. That’s a rise of over 4% PER MONTH. That’s an annualized increase of almost 50%! The number of active listings has dropped almost 50% since the high last fall. People are STILL moving to Calgary, putting added pressure on the rental market (which essentially has a zero vacancy and will continue as so for 2007). And, a lot of people suggested that the record number of properties sold last year would stand for several years, simply because of how incredibly strong the volume of sales was. However, February this year is going to see somewhere around 15% MORE sales than February last year. Speaking with some of the top agents in my office, one of them told me that on Saturday, he was involved in writing 5 offers on different properties .. and EVERY ONE OF THEM was in multiple-offer situation. Trust me when I say, we’re in for an incredible spring market in Calgary. It won’t be quite as frenzied as last year, but it’s going to be a close second. Now, I’m not suggesting that prices will stay on this trajectory for the whole year. I think we’ll see a similar cycle as 2006, where the spring goes up significantly, and then moderates in the latter half of the year. But the point here is, months ago I could quite easily see where this market was going to trend, simply by looking at the fundamentals. People were selling late last year, mistakenly believing the hype and cocktail rumors that “the market was over”. I’m on record for projecting that Calgary’s real estate market will rise 20% in 2007 over last year’s numbers, for which a lot of people have said I’m crazy. But when you understand how to read trends, and analyze fundamentals, it’s not hard to predict the future. And in Calgary, there is a GREAT future ahead in 2007! ]]>