September 2024 Newsletter

Embracing Fall in the Bow Valley: Market Insights and Seasonal Reflections

The evenings are starting to cool but the start of September has been fantastic with a colder and rainy day as I write this. Another successful Highland Games and the Kids are back in school means we are now fully focused on fall. The Bow Valley is still welcoming many visitors as we have always found September and October tourism staying strong. While out for a run on the local trails in Canmore and Banff it is great to overhear multiple different languages as I pass by locals and visitors alike taking in our stunning mountains.

Market Evaluation

On the graphs within this newsletter, you will see substantial increases in median sale prices, but I will caution reading too much into that as sample sizes allow larger swings in some monthly numbers. Next month we will be reviewing the 3^rd quarter of the year which always brings more tangible comparatives. Our listing inventory continues to inch its way up but as we have been saying we are a far way off from what we have seen as a balanced market. For reference, since we started pulling these numbers almost 25 years ago the highest inventory was over 500 listings on the market in 2011 and the lowest was 56 in the intense post covid days of 2022. As of writing this in the second week in September our market currently has 159 active listings.

Market Demands

With the covid affect on listings and sales a great reference point is comparing our market to September 2019, just before the pandemic. Our listing inventory was 256 on September 1^st  which was 68% higher than September 1^st, 2024 inventory. In terms of sales, all segments in August 2024 had fewer sales than August 2019 except for townhomes, which makes sense as many buyers are still waiting for the right property to make the move to Canmore or to move within the market. Speaking of moving within the market, we have begun to see the fall buyers looking for a property for ski season (and beyond) and often these buyers will move up and down in the market as the needs of their families change. They may start with an apartment style condo and then move up to something larger as the kids get older and potentially even larger again as they fall in the love with Canmore and look to semi-retire or retire here.

It truly is our pleasure to work hard and put our knowledge and experience to work helping our clients sell and/or buy their mountain home and would be excited to help any of your friends or family with all their Real Estate needs. We are never too busy for your referrals!

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