2020 expected to be another bad year for sales of million-dollar-plus homes in Calgary

This year is forecast to be another bad one for luxury home sales in Calgary.

Sotheby's International Realty Canada released a report on Wednesday which says uneven economic performance and inconsistent consumer confidence has dampened the million-dollar-plus home market in the city.

The sector was alreadyburdened with an oversupply, according to the report, and last yearresidential sales of homes over $1 million decreased by 13 per cent from 2018 levels.

"I mean, there is always a concern that things will fall further, but a lot of times when we go through these down markets people don't really know where the bottom is, and so there is a hesitancy," said Sotheby's president and CEO Don Kottick.

"The good news is that we are starting to see a few positive signs on the horizon, and we have experienced good activity in other markets in the country.We hope it is contagious and Calgary catches on."

Growth in lower-end

Still, Kottick thinks Alberta's ongoing economic challenges will keep the high-end market from bouncing back quickly.

That's also the view outlined in a Calgary Real Estate Boardreport released on Tuesday, which forecast home sales to increase slightly in 2020, but only in the lower end of the market.

"We are seeing more transactions in the $500,000-and-below price point for residential homes," CREB chief economistAnn-Marie Luriesaid in a release.

The CREB report forecasts overall home prices to drop by less than one per cent, an improvement over 2019, when prices fell by 3.39 per cent.