Home sales and builds on the decline in Lethbridge

LETHBRIDGE — Home sales in Lethbridge were down in June.

According to the Alberta Real Estate Association, last month was the lowest June recorded since 2007.

The association's latest report shows new listings and inventory are also down from a year ago.

"Things are definitely down compared to 2021 and 2022 because those were very active years," said Jennifer Brodoway, a Realtor with Team View Lethbridge.

The report shows home sales are down 15 per cent year over year to 200 units sold.

New listings dropped 27 per cent to 249 and inventory dropped 20 per cent to 459.

Brodoway says this looks concerning on paper but the numbers are returning to what we saw five years ago.

"We find that 2023 is really just similar to what it was in 2018 and 2019," Brodoway told CTV News.

"In 2023, from January to June, we've had about a thousand sales here in Lethbridge."

It's not just home sales that have dropped -- so has the number of new houses being built, according to BILD Lethbridge.

"This has been an unusually slow building cycle for Lethbridge and that's a direct result of seeing the less home sales and, of course, with the inventory already there, you're going to see less new homes being built," said Bridget Mearns, BILD Lethbridge’s executive officer.

As of May, there have been 339 fewer units built year over year, which accounts for the drop in inventory.

Both interest rates and building costs have increased, leading to the decline.

"It's kind of this perfect storm that's happening, where the inflationary pressure on the cost of construction is making things more expensive, and it's also more expensive because of the interest rate in qualifying for a mortgage," said Mearns.

The cost of new homes has increased six per cent from last year.