(Dreamstime)

By David Opinko

Home sales reach record $1.1-billion in Lethbridge area in 2021

Jan 6, 2022 | 5:00 AM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – It is a good time to be a realtor in Southern Alberta.

The Lethbridge and District Association of Realtors (LDAR) is reporting record numbers for both the number of residential properties sold and for the total dollar value.

CEO Cathy Maxwell says, over the last 12 months, 2,313 homes were sold in Lethbridge and the surrounding communities.

“It’s interesting to note that those are record highs that surpassed the previous record set in 2006 by 14 per cent, so a very strong ending to a strong year.”

That is up from just 1,666 in 2020, which was already up nine per cent from the year prior.

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Within the LDAR region, the dollar values for 2021 were approximately $1.1-billion, a number Maxwell says she had never seen before.

Currently, there are about three months of inventory on the housing market, meaning that, if homes kept selling at the same rate and no new properties were listed, it would take about three months for everything to clear out.

This means Lethbridge is still firmly in a seller’s market.

According to Maxwell, there are a couple of reasons why the numbers have been so strong lately.

“Lethbridge, in particular, has seen [its] employment rate return to levels that are consistent with the pre-pandemic level, so that’s one thing. The other thing is interest rates have been pretty low, so those two things for our market have helped us.”

She told LNN that the Canadian Real Estate Association is forecasting a strong market in 2022 that will be a bit less than 2021 but still above the long-term averages.

There are a few pieces of uncertainty going forward, however, including whether or not interest rates will rise and if there are changes to the mortgage stress test.

Either way, Maxwell feels it will be another good year for the real estate sector in Southern Alberta.

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