# Good time to buy Calgary condo?



## jargey3000 (Jan 25, 2011)

Just wondering what Calgary cmf-ers - or others in the know might think. Would this be a good time to consider buying a small-ish condo in Calgary SW area? will current market prices dip lower or are increased prices on the horizon? Thought? Comments?


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## Westerncanada (Nov 11, 2013)

Depends on what your plan is long term or short term. If youre going to live there 10+ years then it would be a good time.. if you want to buy and flip in a few years.. maybe ok but dont think a condo will appreciate that much short term


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## eligoldman (Apr 24, 2017)

*do it now!*

I always prefer long term.


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## mark0f0 (Oct 1, 2016)

Prices are likely to keep going lower, after the 2011 apex in Calgary (2-3 years prior to the apex in Vancouver/Toronto which was in 2013) and a huge supply glut. Appreciation is all but out of the question. If you need a place to live, you might tolerate paying slightly higher than normal, but as an investment, units still have a very long ways to go down.


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## Just a Guy (Mar 27, 2012)

While prices have taken a hit in Calgary, I think those with means still haven't blinked yet. Many listings are still high with people hoping to get bailed out by selling...which is unlikely unless oil recovers. Real estate is generally a trailing indicator, meaning it's one of the last to go down. Oil hasn't recovered really so Alberta is still in trouble.

As people run out of money, prices will continue to go down. Now, if oil recovers or drilling starts up again, then prices will most likely rise but I think unemployment is still very high, eventually those son the bubble will have to face reality and sell for what they can get.


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## ykphil (Dec 13, 2009)

I personally would not buy a condo as an investment property but if you already live in Calgary, have a secure job, and plan to stay there in the long term, I think now is a good time to buy a condo, especially within inner city (East Village particularly).


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

I think that location will be the key in Calgary. Our real estate agent told us that those in the industry believe that there is 4-5 years of supply on or about to come on the market. If interest rates go up I believe that condo sales will be hit hardest. Don't expect any capital appreciation for some time and there is a good change of negative appreciation.

The other issue is condo assessments, especially building envelopes, and most especially on low rise wood frame condos. Calgary is brutal for this. It reminds us of when we lived in Vancouver. There is apparently some legislation under consideration for future builds.

We live in a so called higher end condo. Four floors. We rent. We thought of buying. So glad we did not. Apart from making much more money by putting our equity in the market, we avoided $35K in condo assessments and a condo fee that keeps increasing. Our complex has a steady stream of people working on the building, and on the plumbing/heating systems. It is very much buyer beware.


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## OnlyMyOpinion (Sep 1, 2013)

ykphil said:


> I personally would not buy a condo as an investment property but if you already live in Calgary, have a secure job, and plan to stay there in the long term, I think now is a good time to buy a condo, especially within inner city (East Village particularly).


Just helped move someone into a new condo in EV. I was impressed by the fact that the larger area is part of a comprehensive development plan, rather than condos popping up in areas without corresponding green space and services.

I've never been a condo person personally, but I can see that for some people/lifestyles and in a well built and well-managed building it could make sense.

I agree, those who bought on spec to flip or to become landlords could be having a tough go of it these days. Purchasers staying put for the long term should be ok. I recall comments re/ Calgary undergoing a housing collapse in the '80's when many people walked from their mortgages. Those who managed to stay the course through the dip and recovery ended up ok.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Just saw a report about condo sales in Calgary. Not good. Lots of empty units. Developers are apparently adding enticements like free vacations, no condo fees for a set amount of time, etc. If you are in for the long haul you might want to gain an understanding of the market in the area that you are looking at and then wait for the right deal to come along.

We just bought a home (not a condo). We have been renting for four years. We are very much ahead of the curve by investing our previous home proceeds for these past four years. Home prices have remained constant, in some areas they have decreased a little. Each time we looked at buying a condo in Calgary over the past few years the financials simply did not add up. It was better for us to rent. And rents have been decreasing in Calgary because of high inventories. I would also assume that their are a number of folks who, in the past, bought condos as investments are now trying to unload them.


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## Rusty O'Toole (Feb 1, 2012)

Prices down, oil industry down, gloom and doom everywhere - sounds like opportunity to me. Remember the old motto "buy low sell high". When properties are on the bargain counter is a good time to buy. Whether this is a good time for you to buy, is up to you. If you plan on keeping it for 5 or 10 years you should end up ok. If you are buying to live in, or if you are buying as an investment and it has positive cash flow.


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## ykphil (Dec 13, 2009)

ian said:


> It was better for us to rent. And rents have been decreasing in Calgary because of high inventories. I would also assume that their are a number of folks who, in the past, bought condos as investments are now trying to unload them.


We bought a couple of condos in 2010, one for us, one for my mother who in the end never moved from Montreal, so we rented her condo, a nice 600 sq.ft. unit in East Village -which was at the time completely undeverlopped, for $1700 a month. When I put the ad on Kijiji on a Friday night at 11 pm, I had a flurry of emails and text messages within 10 minutes. The next day, the place was rented, and it stayed rented without interruption for years. Fast forward to January 2016, our tenant loses his job and leaves Calgary. Put the condo for rent for $1700, no taker, not even a reply, then $1600, $1500, $1400, $1300...still no taker. So we sold our own condo (luckily at a profit) and moved into our rental which is just fine for us since we travel out of Canada 6 months of the year and use the place essentially as a glorified storage unit. We'll just keep this condo as our pied-à-terre in Canada until the market rebounds. Our short-term plan is to build a little house in the Gulf Islands, so once the place is finished, we'll just rent it until the right time comes.


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Your experience matches what we have seen in the market over the past two and even three years. 

You are fortunate that you bought in 2010. Those who bought at the height of the market in 2013 have not been so fortunate. The market frenzy at that time,and the prospect of projected falling energy prices convinced us to put our home equity into equities instead of real estate. Hopefully Calgary is starting to move toward some sort of normality. Big issue now is the consolidations/mergers that have resulted in additional layoffs.


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## scorpion_ca (Nov 3, 2014)

How about detached house in the NE area...Rundle, Whitehorn and Castleridge? Any thoughts?


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

Absolutely no idea. We were watching the southwest and southeast villa and condo markets.


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## WGZ (Feb 3, 2017)

In Edmonton and keeping an eye on condo prices. I'm leaning towards renting, but won't hesitate to snatch up an opportunity to buy something decent and take advantage of it. Whatever is happening in Calgary with condos, is probably even more-so in Edmonton.

I've seen a lot of places for sale for months now with owners not budging on price. Others get thrown up at low prices and disappear pretty quick, probably by someone in the same boat as me waiting to pounce on something good.


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## nobleea (Oct 11, 2013)

WGZ said:


> In Edmonton and keeping an eye on condo prices. I'm leaning towards renting, but won't hesitate to snatch up an opportunity to buy something decent and take advantage of it. Whatever is happening in Calgary with condos, is probably even more-so in Edmonton.


I think Edmonton is in much better shape than Calgary. Not to mention the massive commercial and residential construction going on right now in the core.


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