Surprising Acreage Sales Levels For 2020!
I thought it would be interesting to see how country sales fared for the challenging year of 2020 compared to 2019 levels. Those of us in the residential real estate industry thought in March and April that it could be a dismal year for sales given the challenges we were all facing. In fact, the opposite was true! Acreages sales overall were up in both the Foothills and Rockyview counties! Foothills had a 20% increase and Rockyview had a 14% increase in sales volume.
I have created a short summary chart below to show the results in three price categories to get some sense of increases or decreases. The research was for properties 1.5 acres or more and did not include raw land parcels. It also did not include residential sales in the MD towns such as Okotoks, High River, Airdrie etc., nor in the large luxury lot communities such as Heritage Pointe, Artesia etc. but focused on acreages. However, overall MD unit sales across all sectors including the towns were up somewhat. The interesting thing was that there were increases in acreage sales numbers in both the $700 to $1M range as well as in the $1M plus range. Activity in the $500 – $700 range was also up in the Foothills.
Foothills County
2020
$500-$700K ………………………………….. 59
$700-$1,000 ………………………………… 108
$1,000,000+ ………………………………….. 52
Total Sales:……………………………………219
2019
$500-$700K ………………………………….. 45
$700-$1,000 ………………………………… 195
$1,000,000+ ………………………………….. 42
Total Sales:……………………………………182
Rockyview County
2020
$500-$700K ………………………………….. 29
$700-$1,000 ………………………………… 128
$1,000,000+ ………………………………….. 96
Total Sales:……………………………………243
2019
$500-$700K ………………………………….. 38
$700-$1,000 ………………………………….. 91
$1,000,000+ ………………………………….. 86
Total Sales:……………………………………215
So overall, a surprising yet positive ending to a very different, unpredictable, and challenging year for us all. I suspect some of the reasons for the reasonable active year despite COVID-19 and the restrictions & shutdowns could be as follows:
- Realtors were classified as an “essential services” so selling and buying activity and showings could still take place all year long.
- Interest rates were historically low allowing some families and buyers to access larger mortgages if necessary.
- People who often thought of moving to the country likely did so in 2020 to get a sense of more space and move away from the restrictions of city or condo living.
- Acreages prices were more market friendly and in most cases sellers were not trying to over-reach on their listing pricing and be competitive given the market place and effects of COVID-19 on people, job losses, etc.
Based on these results, there is certainly a reason to be positive as we move into 2021. It could potentially be a good year for sales again with some optimism with vaccines being rolled out and interest rates still remaining extremely low.
Wayne Chaulk
Real Estate Agent
www.chaulkrealestate.com
