Category: Market News

Alberta farmland values increased an average of 12.9% in 2013, following gains of 13.3% in 2012 and 8.7% in 2011. Much of this increase occurred in the first half of the year. Values have continued to rise in the province since 1993. The strong agricultural commodity prices in the first half of the year along with increased oilfield activity spurred confidence in the economy. Land prices either increased or remained steady throughout most of the province. Location and availability were the main price drivers. Competition for land caused prices to increase along the Highway 2 corridor, particularly for agricultural holdings. This reflected continued optimism in agriculture. Southern Alberta continued to see high demand for irrigated land from specialty crop producers looking to secure contracts and traditional crop producers seeking irrigated land for production. Demand from producers looking to expand their land bases toincrease efficiencies also drove up farmland values

Source: https://www.fcc-fac.ca/fcc/about-fcc/corporate-profile/reports/farmland-values/farmland-values-report-2013.pdf

In the past three months the City of Brooks has seen 30 sales, 23 of which were re-sold homes. The average sale price of these re-sold homes was $260,345 which is very similar to the average of $265,785 from the 28 homes sold at this time last year. The market in Brooks does appear to be fairly stable. There are presently 60 single family homes for sale in Brooks and there is an average of 8 homes sold per month indicating a 7.5 months supply. The average days on the market for the homes sold so far this year is 115 days.

http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/odpub/esub/64695/64695_2014_M01.pdf

Alberta had a total of 15,193 housing starts in 2012 and 16,308 housing starts in 2013. An increase of 7 percent. Other dwellings not considered single family detached dwellings had a total of 15,413 new builds in 2012 and 16,685 in 2013. This is an acreage of 8 percent.

The City of Brooks resale housing market included a total of 151 sales. There were 125 sales of houses with average sale price was $263,058 which mirrors a similar average sale price last year $260,020. This is an indicator of a fairly stable market. 18 condominium properties sold for an average of 186,028 and 8 half duplexes sold at an average price of $196,375. The average price of 30 manufactured homes on rented lots in mobile home parks was $52,737. Average days on market was 83 days in 2013 . At present Brooks had 42 single family detached homes for sale. Information on this update has come from the Realtors association of South Central Alberta.

Below is a historic chart of the close price to list Ratio for Mobile, Condominiums and Single family homes in the City of Brooks. A high sale price to list ratio indicates a strong demand. In a sellers market you will see a very high percentage. The results were calculated from 568 listings. This is a fairly small pool of listings and a few that were listed too high and had a significant disparity between asking and selling price could significantly alter the chart results.

So far the Brooks housing market accounted for 78 sales which is a decrease from 128 sales at the same time last year. City of Brooks single family homes had an average price of $265,551 for 2013, slightly up from an average of $264,709 at this time last year. As of August 1st, 2013 Brooks has 69 single family detached homes for sale with only 4 properties listed under $200,000. The average days on market for sold home so far in 2013 has been 68 days. We are averaging about 11 sales per month. Sales information has been provided by the Realtors Association of South Central Alberta.

Farmland values in Alberta increased an average of 7.2% during the second half of 2012, following gains of 5.7% and 4.5% in the previous two reporting periods. Values have continued to rise in the province since 1993.Competition for land purchases caused prices to increase, with location and availability as the main price drivers. Higher commodity prices and strong demand along the Highway 2 corridor resulted in a higher demand for agricultural land in that area.The irrigation area of southern Alberta continued to see high demand for irrigated land, mainly as a result of strong commodity prices and for specialty crops grown under contract.Demand from producers looking to expand their land base to gain efficiencies also drove increases in farmland values throughout the province. Source: FCC Website

So far the Brooks housing market accounted for 181 sales which is an acreage of 54 sales compared to the same time last year. City of Brooks single family homes accounted for 145 of the 181 total sales and had an average price of $262,332 which is about 6% higher than the same time last year. Brooks residential properties have so far been selling at a rate of 20 per month of 2012. In summary, values have been fairly stable but we are seeing more activity than last year.

Farmland values in Alberta increased an average of 5.7% during the first half of 2012, following gains of 4.5% and 4.0% in the previous two reporting periods. The province has seen values continue to rise since 1993.

Overall, northern Alberta experienced strong increases in farmland values, corresponding to very strong commodity prices. Several areas saw larger farm operations consolidate their land base. Competition for land caused prices to increase, with location and availability as the major drivers. Some areas, primarily in the northern Peace Region, saw land prices stabilize, possibly in response to concerns about moisture conditions.

Once again, in central Alberta, strong cattle and grain prices corresponded with an increase in the price of land.The irrigation area of southern Alberta saw robust demand for irrigated land, resulting from high commodity prices and specialty crops grown under contract. The Lethbridge area also saw strong demand for good cropland.

Source: http://www.fcc-fac.ca

For the first six months the housing market has shown an increase of 78 sales in Brooks in comparison to the same period in 2011. The average resale price of homes was $258,615. Attached housing, which includes duplex, townhouse and condominiums averaged $187,476 with 25 sales and mobile homes averaged $62,420 with 20 sales. Currently Brooks has 66 single family dwellings listed on the open market. We have approximately 17 houses selling per month. The average days on market for homes so far in 2012 is 67 days.

(Source: Realtor Association of South Central Alberta)