Edmonton Real Estate Blog

It might appear that the downward pressure on valuations are easing somewhat. With 3,065 single family dwellings for sale the amount of inventory is coming down. In the last 30 days there were 656 single family homes that sold.

That give us a listing to sales ratio of 4.67:1 which is down from the previous week and hopefully is a trend that will reverse and we will see valuation rise again as I expect them to do in early spring of 2012.

That makes now a perfect time to buy with the current low interest rates that are available. To check out todays best mortgage rates visit www.edmontonmortgagesource.com

With today’s interest rates being so low and the downward pressure on valuations right now I think this is an ideal time to buy before prices go back up as anticipated in the spring time.

To check out today’s mortgage interest rates or would like to get pre-approved for a mortgage check out www.edmontonmortgagesource.com

Well it is good to be back from my extende holiday from China. However I am a little sad to see how the market has changed since I left back in July. The market has soften significantly and has me somewhat concerned.

As of this morning there were 3,256 single family dwellings for sale in Edmonton proper on the Edmonton Multiple Listing Service. That is in itself is not a bad number and shows healthy inventory levels.

What has me more concerned is the number of sales that we have had in the last 30 days which is 646 single family dwellings that have sold in Edmonton proper.

This gives us a listing to sales ratio of 5.04:1 which is higher than the 4:1 needed in Edmonton for a neutral market. This indicates to me that we are going to see some downward pressure on valuations in the incoming weeks.

If you have a home listed currently you are going to want to make sure that you are very competitively priced if you want to sell.

We might be seeing the first signs of our summer seasonal slowdown. As of this afternoon there are 3,195 active single family homes for sale in Edmonton proper. This is fairly consistent to what we being seeing as of late. However the number of sales in the last 30 days has dropped off somewhat with only 795 sales.

This is having an impact on our listings to sales ratio. This week it has risen to 4.02:1 bring us back into a neutral or balanced market. In previous weeks that ration was a little lower and was putting upward pressure on valuations. That is now gone. Let’s hope that the ratio doesn’t continue to rise where we would see downward pressure on valuations.

It sure feels like summer time is finally coming to Edmonton. The weather is getting hotter, grass is turning green, flowers are out and real estate is in full swing…finally!!!

The real estate market continues to be strong with good sales activity. As of today June 10^th, 2011 there are 3,127 single family homes listed on MLS® in Edmonton proper. The number of listings has been holding fairly steady of the recent few weeks.

The number of sale of single family homes listed on MLS® in Edmonton proper has increased to 855 in the past 30 days. With this many listings and sales we end up with a listings to sales ratio of 3.66:1 which is lower than we have seen recently.

This ratio is also lower than the 4:1 ratio that is needed for a balanced or neutral market. With a ratio of 3.66:1 I would expect slight upward pressure of valuations. If this trend continues expect prices to start rising.

If you are thinking of buying I would not hesitate and look at buying now before prices do go up and there is still the threat of interest rates going up this fall. Now might be the best opportunity to buy.

That is one thing we can always depend on is the market to continually change.

Only last month I was telling you that based on the listings to sales ratio that we had upward pressure on valuations. Well that is now changed.

As of today May 15, 2011 there are 2,945 single family dwellings for sale in Edmonton proper. That is an increase from last month. In the past 30 days there were 733 single family dwellings sold. This would give us a listing to sales ratio of 4.02:1. A 4:1 ratio is a neutral or balanced market with valuations remaining stable.

Many people were waiting for the snow the melt and spring to finally arrive to put their homes up for sales which explains the increase in inventory that we currently have and why the market has balanced out.

But in my opinion over the next few weeks as buyer start to eat away at the current inventory level we might see ourselves back in a seller’s market again soon. There is too much positive economic drive in the Edmonton area for this not to happen.

We also know that in the next few months we are all expecting some interest rate hikes. Now is a perfect time to buy before valuations go up and interest go up. Call me today to help you find your dream home while the window of opportunity is open.

April 14, 2011 – Well just when you thought maybe spring was here we are being hit with a snow storm this morning with a forecast with between 5 – 10 cm of snow.  I think we might just skip spring and move onto summer.

The spring marketplace continues to be strong.  As of this morning there are 2,551 single family dwelling for sale in Edmonton proper. This is a pretty typical inventory level for this time of year.  In the previous 30 days there were 661 single family homes sold in Edmonton proper.

This would give us a listing to sales ratio of 3.85:1 just slightly below the 4:1 ratio that we require for a neutral or balanced market. As long as this ratio stays below the 4:1 market expect valuations to continue to have upward pressure to increase.

I am experiencing this first hand as I was trying to sell a property to one of my buyers earlier this week and there were 6 offers written on the property before we could present. Ultimately we had to write an unconditional offer $12,000 over the list price in order to acquire the property.

This is our new reality again. Really good properties listed at a good price are selling within 24 – 48 hours and don’t be surprised to be in a multiple offer situation.

The average list price of a single family dwelling in Edmonton proper is $398,717 and the average selling price in the last 30 days was $386,028. The average number of days on market was 43 days.

Source: Realtors Association of Edmonton

To view the video for Edmonton’s First Time Buyer report just click on the following link:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q_djccXIHN8

Canadian new home prices rose more than expected in January and hit a record high, but the pace of growth was the slowest since March, adding to evidence that the housing sector is starting to cool.

But that was nation wide and things are a little different here in Alberta. There is just too much going on in the oil and gas industry that going to keep the Alberta economy very strong.

So I do expect prices of homes but new and resale to rise during the balance of this year and next year as well.

It is looking like the Edmonton real estate market is improving. As of this morning there were 2,188 single family homes for sale in Edmonton proper. More importantly there has been 557 sales in the previous 30 days. That gives us a lsting to sales ratio of 3.93:1 which is basically at the level we need for the market the stabilize and become neutral. With this kind of ratio we can expect prices valuations to stop falling and normalize.

I anticipate as we get more along into our spring marketplace that we might see this ratio drop and if we do expect valuations to start to rise again. So if you are thinking of buying to hesitate do it now, especially before the mortgage rule changes on March 18th.