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$8 million condo sale underlies Calgary's market muscle

A record sale price for a Calgary condominium - $8.3 million - is the latest signal of a muscular residential market re-emerging in Alberta's largest city.
A record sale price for a Calgary condominium - $8.3 million - is the latest signal of a muscular residential market re-emerging in Alberta's largest city.
The January sale of the 5,260-square-foot condo at the 38-unit River development by 26th Avenue River Investments Inc. represents the highest price ever paid for a Calgary condo. "And it is not the most expensive residence in the development," said  Chris Bourassa, CEO of Ledcor Properties Ltd., the parent company of 26th Avenue. The average price paid for the first eight units sold in the River project is $3.75 million. The per-square-foot price for the most expensive unit works out to $1,577, also a record for a city condominium.
Calgary's housing market is on the cusp of a marked recovery, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board which released a rare forecast of housing sales and prices this month. The Board predicts that condo sales will reach 5,7900 units this year, up 8 per cent from 2011 and the highest level since 2009. The average resale price of a condo apartment is forecast to hit a record high of $292,000. Meanwhile, the average resale detached house price will increase to $476,000 this year, the Board said, compared to $466,400 in 2011, despite only a moderate increase in sales. Housing sales in Calgary fell sharply in 2010 during the economic downturn, but began a turnaround late last year.
The Board bases  its bullish 2012 outlook on a number of predictions: a net inflow of 20,333 people to Calgary; city GDP growth of 3.6 per cent, which would be the highest in Canada; mortgage lending rates at near record lows; employment growth of 2.8 per centt; and the price of oil remaining close to the $100-per-barrel range.
"Calgary has continually defied the global economic gloom," said Bourassa, who added the luxury 15-storey River development will start construction this year on the Elbow River near downtown Calgary.