Ok. There are two kinds of blogs. The one’s that will make you laugh...Michelle gets to write those ones...and then there are the stats blogs which will make some cry...I get stuck writing these ones. Regardless it’s still good information so here we go.
“Benchmark Pricing”. It’s one of the newest ways to evaluate housing prices when trying to compare homes in different cities. With different cities having very different housing styles, areas and price points just using average sale prices is not accurate enough. Using the Benchmark eliminates the homes out of the norm and not typical to an area.
Now in the past I have found the theory of Benchmark Pricing not easy to grasp. Recently I spoke to Ann-Marie Lurie, the chief economist of the Calgary Real Estate Board and she explained it to me by telling me what that stats are for the typical home in both Calgary and Airdrie. Now that I finally have a grasp on the concept I thought it was the right time to share.
The typical (or Benchmark) single family home in Calgary has the following;
1,299 square feet of above grade living area
16 years old
Lot size is 391.8 square meters
2 1/2 bathrooms
2 parking stalls
Average price of $470,600 through the 3rd quarter of 2013
Now the typical (or Benchmark) single family home in Airdrie;
1,346 square feet of above grade living area
6 years old
Lot size is 421.3 square meters
2 1/2 bathrooms
2 parking stalls
Average price of $365,900 through the 3rd quarter of 2013
So looking at the Benchmark for each city it is easy to see why so many Calgarians are moving to Airdrie (11 people a day on average) with the age of home being so much newer and with the average sale price being so much lower. We have just about any amenity you could think of or want within a reasonable distance and often closer than for many who live in Calgary itself. Airdrie is a self sustaining city and just a great place to live.
So hopefully this all made sense and didn’t make you cry but if you have any questions or would like to discuss what the typical (or Benchmark) 2 story is here in Airdrie since we build so many of them please contact me at macarre@sothebysrealty.ca or 403-771-3398.
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