2024 Review and a Look Ahead to 2025!

A New Twist for Our Newsletter

Due to the Canada Post strike, we saw an opportunity to add more value to our yearly update by sending it in January. This allows us to provide a comprehensive review of the Canmore market with yearly statistics. For a market of our size, monthly and even quarterly numbers can be limited due to small sample sizes, causing larger swings.

Review of 2024

Sales: 2024 saw the lowest number of sales since before the pandemic, with a slight drop of 2.5% from 2023. However, sales were still 10.5% above the 10-year pre-pandemic average. This aligns with ongoing struggles with market inventory.

Pricing: We observed slight increases in the median sale prices for apartment condominiums, townhome condominiums, single-family homes, and recreational (hotel condominium) properties. These increases ranged from just over 1% to 8% year-over-year. Average prices rose in all segments except the recreational market, which saw a 2% decrease due to the construction of smaller, less expensive units.

Looking Ahead to 2025

While our predictions are always cautious, we feel incredibly positive about the local market in 2025. Canmore continues to attract people looking to make it their full-time residence either now or start as a weekend retreat to move to full time in the future. The decrease in interest rates in late 2024, expected to continue into 2025, will provide buyers with a sense of economic stability, encouraging them to enter the market. Additionally, a slight rise in inventory is anticipated, which is much needed.

If you’re considering selling or buying in 2025, please reach out. We are committed to ensuring your sale or purchase exceeds your expectations. Thank you for your support over the past year and into the future. We are always excited to use our experience and knowledge to assist with all your real estate needs.

Brads Annual Update

2024 was a great year all in all.  It started with less snow than I prefer which made me x-country ski 21 times while I only downhill skied 20 times.  This was the 1^st time in my life I did more x-country than downhill. I am hoping for more snow in 2025 and more downhill days, I am usually around 30-35 which I am hopeful for this year.  I got new classic x-country skis and boots and loved the skins, so I do not have to put kick wax on, game changer for me. 

Callum moved from Sportsnet radio in Toronto to a TV news, sports and weather anchor in the small market of Lloydminster, the boarder city on the Sask. and AB boarder for the Winter of 2024.  Cal had some great TV experiences and met some nice people and played a lot of golf. In late Spring he thought he would see if this experience would be of interest to other TV stations, preferably in Calgary.   He was offered a great reporting job with CTV in a small market and City News in Calgary offered him a reporting job and moved back to Calgary in summer and is loving being back in Calgary, seeing friends and loving his coworkers and the news reporting.  We have been out skiing a few times, which is fabulous!

It has been great having Lauren back in Canmore, she is still with Global Affairs, albeit working remotely has been great with some super people, Lauren has taken a new role this week working with the upcoming G7 conference in Kananaskis in June.  Lauren is excited to be working in person with new colleagues.  Lauren keeps busy with workout classes and her amazing dog Cash.  Lauren has done an incredible job training Cash the wonder dog and he is very loving and filled with fun and adventure.

We concluded a big renovation at the cottage in 2024 and hosted a 75^th anniversary party of the cottage.  Dad started building the cottage in 1949 with no money, no car and no construction knowledge but we are thankful he did.    He bought the land in 1952, ask me about this great story when you see me next.  All the Hawkers were able to come to the Lake for an extended stay and enjoy the celebration, we had most of the lake come, it was a fabulous party that I think Mom and Dad would have loved.  They were there in spirit we felt. Cash loved being at the Lake and Lauren was able to stay later and closed the cottage in September as we had all left.

Joanna and I had a fabulous trip to Costa Rica in April with some great friends and it was an amazing trip filled with great food, superb hiking in the interior of the country and a lot of ocean/ beach time in the very warm water.  I thought my opportunity to surf may have passed me by as I am aged, but my wake foiling helped me jump on many waves with the help of a great surf instructor. I got so tired though trying to get back past the surf to catch my next wave and rest, hopefully I can try again soon.

I am very happy to have Lauren and Callum back in Alberta and will enjoy every minute as we never know when their lives may take them elsewhere.  Jo and I are enjoying being Cash’s grandparents, though I think Cash is a little sweeter on Joanna than on me.

Joanna had a fabulous year in Real Estate again with her being #7 in Alberta for total sale volume for 2024 and Drew and I had another great year with us being in the top 2% of all 21,000 Royal LePage Realtors by sales volume for 2024, we are so very thankful to our clients, friend and family for the support!

All the best to you and your loved ones in 2025!!

 

Drews Annual Update

2024 has been another great year in the amazing Bow Valley. I learned a valuable lesson on health as I was quite ill from the fall of 2023 all the way to spring 2024. With patience I was able to get back to health and start running and exercising in the spring which was fantastic although a little humbling to start back at zero for fitness.  I was excited to register for and complete in a half marathon in the fall with a result much faster than I was expecting.  I am cautiously optimistic I will run another marathon in 2025.

While the kids all get older and are starting to create their own lives Cheryl and I were happy to have a couple weeks in the summer with them that included time in Cheryl’s hometown of Thunder Bay and time on a lake.

Hannah worked very hard and was successful in getting in and starting her education degree at Mount Royal University. With a school placement close by and her ongoing coaching of cheer, it is such a joy to see her thrive and have such well deserved success. Hannah knew early on what she wanted to do, and the past year has given her even more confirmation she is on the right path.

Brendan is now in his co-op year of biomedical engineering at the University of Calgary.  He is enjoying his work placement and has been accepted to a 3-month experience at a university in Germany this summer.  A great opportunity for him and a good excuse for Cheryl and hopefully myself to go over for a visit.  With one more full year of study remaining (starting fall 2025) we are looking forward to his next steps

Asher started grade 12 in September and is enjoying his last year of High School. His football season was a success as he was named one of the captains of the team along with being named Defensive Player of the Year at the year end wrap up. Asher also continues to play soccer for the high school team and hopes to do that again this spring. The past 6 months have been full of deciding which post secondary path he will take.  Still to be determined but it looks like he will be leaving the province for university, taking Engineering. 

Cheryl and I were able to get away in November to California and on a short cruise.  It is so great to spend time together and we look forward to our next getaway although with the kids getting older, we may be travelling on our own more and more.

My folks are doing very well, and it was nice to get to spend some time together at Christmas.

Another successful food drive in December, thank you for all of you that helped whether it was by helping to collect the food (we go door to door throughout Canmore) sorting the food or through a food/monetary donation.

Want to know what events are happing in Canmore this January click HERE.

Canmore Real Estate Market Update: Fall 2024

As we move through October, we are reminded why fall is one of the best times of year to enjoy the Bow Valley. With the larch trees going vibrant yellow it gives (or makes) going out for a walk/hike or bike ride a special event. The real estate market continues to be quite steady with a gentle rise in the number of listings on the market while sales are staying quite steady.

Market Overview

Listing Inventory

To expand on the comments above we have seen the listing inventory rise each month starting in March with an average increase of 7% per month. Our inventory on October 1st this year is 21% higher than October 2023 yet 22% lower than the average listing inventory in October over the last 10 years. What does this mean? It looks like our market is very slowly moving closer to a balanced market but expectations are that we will move back to a sellers market before we reach what we would call a balanced market.

Sales And Pricing

We prefer to comment on the quarterly sales numbers as they historically give us more accurate data with a larger sample size.(Even better than quarterly is the yearly review which we will send out in January 2025) For average sales prices we have seen each market segment rise throughout 2024 to date with the exception of townhomes which rose through the second quarter but fell to very similar levels of the first quarter in this past third quarter. With the slight increase in inventory some buyers are feeling less urgency to act quickly which has resulted in missing out on the property they would like in some instances and price reductions in others. We are definitely seeing more polarization of some sellers that are not as motivated and hence more comfortable to wait for the right buyer while others that are less patient targeting the current market price with their property.

Days On Market

The days on market for sold properties is staying quite consistent since 2022 and much less than pre pandemic levels. Lastly, the MOI (Months of Inventory is a calculation on the numbers of months it would take to sell all the currently listings with no new inventory coming to Market based on number of past sales) has been quite steady this year and is on the sellers market side of a balanced market with 4 MOI this month and an average of 3.23 MOI for 2024 (note that a balanced market is typically around 6 months of inventory although we often use 4-6)

Winter Is Coming

With the Banff Mountain Film Festival arriving at the end of October, we are all getting excited about the start of ski/snowboard season. We never forget how lucky we are to live in the mountain paradise where we get to trade our bikes, hikers and running shoes for downhill/cross country ski’s, snowboards, toboggans and snowshoes. Weather dependent we expect to see frozen thunder open at the Canmore Nordic Centre later this month with the ski hills opening shortly thereafter (see the links below for latest opening dates).

Links to Ski Resorts

Frozen Thunder – https://www.albertaparks.ca/parks/kananaskis/canmore-nordic-centre-pp/activities/cross-country-skiing/frozen-thunder/

Lake Louise – https://www.skilouise.com/

Sunshine Village – https://www.skibanff.com/

Banff Norquay – https://banffnorquay.com/winter/

2024 Annual Royal LePage Food Drive

We are thrilled to announce our annual food drive will take place on December 4th this year. This event  truly exemplifies the saying, ‘it takes a village.’

Every year, a dedicated team of volunteers from our brokerage and the Canmore community takes on the significant task of knocking on every door in town to collect non-perishable food items for the Bow Valley Food Bank.

We love involving the entire community, whether through donations or volunteering. We look forward to seeing you all at the event.

Stay updated by checking our website, social media channels, and this newsletter in the coming months for more details and volunteer opportunities.

Want to know about upcoming events in the Bow Valley CLICK HERE

We are thrilled to announce that 22, 1119 Railway Avenue has sold. Congratulations to all the parties involved in the transaction. Enjoy this property which is the epitome of town center living in Canmore. This 860 sq ft two bedroom well maintained unit pulls you from the entry upstairs to the main living space. With an open floor plan featuring a living room with corner wood burning fireplace, kitchen and dining that opens to the large 100+ sq ft view deck. Also on this level is a substantial storage room. The top floor has two bedrooms and a four piece bath. Other features include covered parking and additional outside storage and thermostats on each level. Do not miss the shared fire pit in the common space of the complex. Take advantage of this rare opportunity to be steps away from the Canmore river/creek trail system. Lastly, note that the Condo association has replaced all the windows and exterior doors which will help to keep the condominium fees lower into the future. Residentially Zoned, not zoned for short term rental.

More listing info HERE

This gorgeous property has sold. Congratulations to everyone involved in this sale.
A great combination of mountain views, abundant light and a peaceful location make this immaculate 2+ bedroom, 2 and a half bath townhome a wonderful choice. You will have plenty of room for your family and visiting guests with 2,177 square feet of living space plus 4 balcony’s to take in the mountain views. The main floor features kitchen, dining area + living room plus a powder room and view deck. The top floor boasts the primary bedroom with large ensuite, walk in closet, private office space and outdoor retreat with panoramic mountain vistas. The entry level has a large 2nd bedroom plus a family room or 3rd bedroom and a 3 pce bath. The lower level with inslab heat adds even more living space. The finishing is a great blend of contemporary and alpine finishes including wood floors, stone countertops and a large eating bar. Completing the home is an oversize heated single car private garage with extra parking in front along with an additional heated underground stall steps away.

More details on this sale HERE