Calgary home sales tick down in May amid limited supply of lower-priced options

The Calgary Real Estate Board says May home sales fell 0.8 per cent from last year as 3,092 properties changed hands, driven by declines in lower-priced detached and semi-detached homes.

Despite the downtick in sales, the board says activity was still 34 per cent higher than long-term trends for the month.

The benchmark price across all home types was $605,300 for May up 9.5 per cent from a year earlier and nearly one per cent higher than April.

New listings rose 18.7 per cent year-over-year to 4,333, and there were 3,402 units in inventory, 5.9 per cent higher than last year.

Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist at CREB, says although new listings increased, much of the growth was seen in higher price ranges for each property type, supporting increased sales growth for more expensive homes.

Properties were on the market for an average of 19 days before selling in May, down 20.2 per cent from last year.