It certainly was an interesting month with some very valuable indicators that will help us set compass from the upcoming months. 

It is very clear to us that our market is continuing to sit in heavy Sellers market territory with some risk that the conditions may get worse.

We will provide some numbers for both complete LDAR areas and as well will break out the City of Lethbridge below .

Overall sales for the area were very strong but were actually down from 2021. This year's activity saw a 4% decrease in the number of transactions in Jan.

Having said that, the average sale price grew by 10% which is the result of the strong Sellers conditions. 

The number of active listings across the area decreased by 27% when compared to Jan 2021 which is continuing to be the problem. The number of new listings coming on is also down 22% which is not allowing enough listings to be available for the amount of buyers.

Overall Sales for the City of Lethbridge were up 24% in January versus the previous year. The average home sale price also grew almost 10% in the city when compared to a year ago. The issue is that the number of active listings is down 25% this Jan versus last year. As you can see the number of transactions continues to grow and the number of listings continues to drop. This will continue to put upward pressure on sale prices as we struggle to keep enough inventory to satisfy the Buyer demand. 

With additional sales pressure may come higher prices. The Fed has told us all to be ready for increased lending rates, which should cool the market over the long run (lower prices). Covid -19, inflation, blockades restricting the flow of goods and services, along with local provincial and federal economies are just some of the factors that will affect our local Real Estate prices. My recommendation for buyers is there is no time like the present as interest rates are down and pricing in the short run may be increasing. For Sellers, money is still cheap, you can demand a good price for Real Estate right now. It's a great time to sell and after all a bird in the hand may be worth 2 in the bush.