A Guide to Real Estate Trends

Whether you are a first-time buyer, moving, or selling a property, you need to understand important Real Estate trends in order to make sure you are making the best possible choice for the property you want to purchase—be it your vacation home, or your dream first home.

It can be hard to predict the market accurately even if you dedicate your life to the craft, but you can analyze how the market was behaving prior and try to picture where it is going or how it is right now. Even the more experienced homeowner can find difficulty in keeping track of real estate trends, so consulting with a lawyer in this field is always recommended. Calgary real estate lawyers can provide you with consultations about the topic, and will be more than glad to help you through your new journey in the housing market.

If you want to inform yourself better prior to speaking with a lawyer, there are a few trends that are important to keep track of and can help you make the best decisions.

Real Estate Market Inventory

Real Estate market inventory is, in a few words, how many homes are there for sale when compared to the number of buyers. A low inventory means there are not enough properties for sale to meet the demand of buyers.

Low inventories translate into more competition between buyers—that means that the good properties will be bought quickly and by the best applicants, which can significantly decrease the chances of getting your dream home.

In Calgary, most properties stayed between only 30 to 60 days on the market, with more requested neighborhoods staying for less than a month before being bought. Some of the techniques you can do as a buyer in this situation are to expand your search area, minimize your “absolute” requirements of property features and have your mortgage preapproved prior as soon as possible.

Annual Home Values

How is the market reacting to home values annually? Are prices rising or decreasing? This information may help you decide if you want to wait or if it is the right moment for you to purchase a property. It is always important to remember that different parts of town will have different average prices and it will depend on where you want to purchase a property. When looking for a property, you have to be very specific, zoning-wise, to research the market.

As a buyer, a higher annual home value can be frustrating, and you will need to study what you can really afford and what you can not. The house you end up buying might not be what you expected initially, but to land a great deal, buyers need to give up on some bullet points on their checklist. Waiting and studying the market will be a better option than a mortgage you cannot afford—and you may even make plans for renovations later on instead. One technique that you can employ to make it easier for you is to limit your payment to 25% of what you bring home from work as a salary, in order to ensure you can build up a reserve if necessary. Saving for a big down payment will also help you with mortgage rates, so you might want to consider that as well.

On the topic of mortgages, setting a fixed rate will avoid unpleasant surprises.

Mortgages Rates

Furthermore, mortgage rates are extremely important. How are mortgage rates where you plan to purchase a property? Are they higher than normal or are they decreasing?

Higher mortgage rates can decrease what you can actually afford and is not a good thing even for sellers, as fewer buyers will have the means or be motivated to purchase a property while numbers are high.

To help you get better rates, you can always count on a real estate lawyer to negotiate on your behalf and establish communication with the financial institution. Their expertise can make all of the difference at the end of the day.

Where Can I Find This Information?

Finding all this data may seem quite the hassle just so you can compare a few points, but many websites compile them for you if necessary. Remember that planning is extremely important for you to find and acquire the property of your dreams, or the one that you need the most, so do not skip the research.

In Calgary, having a Real Estate Lawyer with you may help quite a lot as they are used on how to deal with the situation and keep updated on the market as it is. Another positive point is that in Calgary the Real Estate market stats are updated regularly with new information—the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB) compiles market data and creates reports as well as forecasts for the year.

Following those trends and analyzing how they are behaving will greatly help you when choosing which property to buy or not to buy. And as always, having a lawyer by your side through the process of acquiring or selling a property will always save you a lot of headaches.