Photo 243623718 © Eberdova | Dreamstime.com

By Chris Brown

Shifting to balanced market

Any drop in house prices in Medicine Hat likely ‘minimal,’ says head of real estate board

Oct 17, 2022 | 12:43 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Inflation and interest rates are putting a lot of housing questions in people’s minds, says the president of the Medicine Hat Real Estate Board.

But he says a forecast drop in the national average home price is unlikely to filter down to the local market by the end of this year or in 2023.

“Buyers have a lot of questions with interest rates and sellers as well,” he says. “But I just look to last time that markets started going down and in Medicine Hat again being isolated that we noticed a very minimal decrease. So I believe that going into next year that pricing should stay fairly consistent and if there is a dip it’s going to be fairly minimal in my opinion.”

The Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation recently predicted a 15 per cent drop from the high seen early this year.

WHAT'S ON

Here is what's on this weekend in Medicine Hat and area: Dec. 13-15

Dec 14, 2024

IN THE COMMUNITY

Medicine Hat's Mustard Seed adding new shelter spaces at Alberta government's request

Dec 12, 2024

HOLIDAYS

Medicine Hat Kiwanis hosting Christmas dinner, applications due Friday

Dec 12, 2024

Taupert says those forecasts mainly impact the booming markets in Ontario and B.C.

“We haven’t noticed that yet. So we’re not expecting to see any of those drastic changes,” he says. “Our market’s always been fairly isolated. We haven’t had major peaks or valleys. So hoping that everything here stays fairly consistent to where it is now.”

Taupert says the local market has shifted from the sellers’ market seen earlier this year to a balanced market with more inventory but remains pretty active overall.

According to Taupert, there are 313 residential listings for single-family detached houses and condos in the Medicine Hat area, which includes Redcliff, Dunmore and Desert Blume.

He says the average price is close to $325,000.