The Airdrie housing market had a very strong year in 2013 with pricing returning to the peak levels of 2007.

Now looking to 2014 the Calgary housing market is expected to continue growing, which should push Airdrie housing prices up further as well.

As homes get less affordable in Calgary, buyers will look for less expensive options and head out to the smaller centers.

With our location and with so many amenities, Airdrie is often many buyer’s No. 1 choice as their place to call home. To put some perspective to the affordability, we’ll look at benchmark pricing (benchmark means the typical home).

For a look at what is considered typical please see our blog dated Jan. 6 at airdrieliving.ca

Through the third quarter of 2013 the typical home in Calgary was selling for $470,600 while in Airdrie the typical home sold for $365,900 for a difference of almost $105,000. However, in Airdrie we all know that two storeys are king and what builders will continue to build.

So it certainly makes sense to look at benchmark pricing for the typical two-storey home as well.

The typical two- storey home in Calgary sold for $508,400 and in Airdrie sold for $402,200 for a difference of more than $106,000.

With these kind of savings on the largest investment most people will ever make, it is easy to see why so many buyers are willing to move out of the city and why Airdrie continues to grow by 11 people a day, with half of them coming from Calgary.

To add to rising prices, in 2014 the Calgary real estate board is predicting an increase of 4.3 percent for the city of Calgary with the first half of the year being stronger than the second half.

This along with interest rates expected to climb slightly, Airdrie’s affordability will remain high compared to Calgary, which should also continue driving prices up here.

Another key factor for the Airdrie market will be housing starts.

If starts increase, this will help alleviate some of the pressure on resale homes.

However, if starts remain around the same then we will continue to see a low number of available homes on the market, which again could push prices up even further.

While I wish I had a working crystal ball and could tell you exactly what’s going to happen, that is just not the case. We live in a world of ever changing factors and in Alberta we are of course dependent on oil.

If oil goes up then housing prices will probably go up, if they go down then pricing will likely all relative. If you sell when prices are high chances are you will buy when prices are high.

Same goes when the market is low. So when people ask me, ‘when is it the best time to list my house?’ my answer is always ‘when you want to sell because you never know when the right buyer for your house is out there looking and if you are not on the market they will not find you.’

So regardless of pricing make the decision based on your needs.

So the good news is all factors are leading towards a strong 2014.

-Airdrie Echo