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A recent survey finding newcomers are among the most eager and optimistic of prospective first-time buyers is not news to anyone working in Calgary’s real estate market.
Calgary has long been an attractive destination for newcomers, says local realtor Jared Chamberlain, broker/owner of the Chamberlain Group at Real Broker.
Yet the nature of the buyer has changed in the last few years.
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“When people move here, they usually rent for a few years before they make a decision on where to purchase, but in the last number of years, we’ve helped people from Germany, Spain, Israel, Brazil, Texas and many other places, who are buying sight unseen.”
This eagerness to get into the market is reflected among the recent findings of RBC’s 30th annual Home Ownership Poll, which reveals newcomers are generally the most enthusiastic of all would-be first-time buyers in Canada.
“Home ownership is obviously a key priority for them, and they are generally more optimistic than the average Canadian,” says Janet Boyle, senior vice-president of home equity finance and newcomer strategy at RBC.
“They’re very focused on, once they land, how they can save quickly for a down payment.”
To that end, the poll found 65 per cent of surveyed newcomers plan to buy a home in the next two years, versus 31 per cent of other prospective first-time buyers in Alberta and 29 per cent among all of Canada.
As well, 56 per cent of newcomers indicated they only had a small window of time to take advantage of lower housing prices. That’s versus 32 per cent of all first-time buyers in the province and 34 per cent nationally.
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“In my view, they’re looking at Calgary and thinking, ‘I want to have a piece of that pie’ because there is a lot of FOMO (fear of missing out) in our market right now,” says Chamberlain.
Certainly, concerns that prices could get away from first-time buyers are well-founded. Calgary Real Estate Board statistics from May show the aggregate benchmark price of a home increased more than 40 per cent in the past five years, reaching a record high of $605,300 in May.
Still, the city remains affordable compared with Canada’s two largest cities, where the benchmark price of a home in Toronto, for example, was $1,117,400 in May.
“Toronto and Vancouver may be the main destinations internationally, but many newcomers are landing in those places and realizing how expensive housing is,” Chamberlain says.
Calgary has often been a next-choice destination because of its lower real estate prices, but the recent price run-up has some looking to another Alberta city.
“Edmonton is now being looked at because you can still buy a detached house for $500,000 to $600,000 versus, in Calgary, where that same type of home is now $700,000 to $800,000.”
Still, Calgary remains a destination for many newcomers — including increasingly affluent individuals who previously owned property in their home country.
Chamberlain cites a game developer couple who came from Austin, Tex., fitting the description.
“They said, ‘We could live anywhere, but we just love the energy of Calgary.’ ”
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