Lethbridge and District Association of REALTORS. (Lethbridge News Now)

By David Opinko

Lethbridge association eyeing how federal election could impact home sales

Oct 11, 2019 | 6:30 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – The Lethbridge and District Association of Realtors is optimistic about home sales in the city, but is looking at what could lie ahead in the future.

As of September 30th, CEO Cathy Maxwell says both the number of homes being sold and money generated from that is up.

“We’re sitting at a total number of sales for year-to-date at 1,954. That’s just slightly above 1,949 sold for last year, so it’s about 0.2% – not much, but it’s a little bit of an increase.”

On the revenue side of things, real estate transactions totaled $531-million for the first nine months of 2019, representing a growth of 4-4.5%.

The average single-detached home is selling for approximately $271,000, which is also up 4-4.5%.

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The city has about seven months of inventory, which, as Maxwell explains, means that if home sales continued exactly as they have been this year, it would take seven months to sell every home currently on the market. She says this is fairly high and puts Lethbridge in a buyer’s market.

Maxwell adds that the winter months tend to be a bit slower for the sector, but given Lethbridge’s stable economy, she does not believe it should have much of an impact.

What could potentially change things up in the near future is a possible change in the federal government.

General voting day is October 21st and every major party has made a series of announcements regarding the real estate sector.

“It’s amazing how each one has a different view of it and how they will answer that problem. I know some of them are looking at a 30-year amortization. That looks good, others say that’s problematic, but I think it would be good for our members and for buyers, so I hope something like that comes into play.”

With Lethbridge relying less heavily on the oil and gas sector than many other Albertan communities, Maxwell believes the city naturally has a more stable economy, which means that home sales, among other things, should continue to look up going forward.