Edmonton Real Estate Blog

In a recent research study done my MoneySense magazine Edmonton ranked 8th best city to live in Canada beating Calgary by a country mile at 16th place.

Motivated by a strong Canadian dollar and what they perceive as bargain U.S. home prices, as many as 1 in 5 Canadians say they’d consider purchasing property in the U.S. 　

A new survey for BMO Bank of Montreal and conducted by Leger Marketing reveals that as home prices have dropped in the regions of the U.S. which are traditional destinations for Canadian snowbirds, interest in purchasing U.S. property has risen. 　

Want to know which Canadians to target? 　Regionally, those in Alberta (31 percent), British Columbia (28 per cent), and the Prairie Provinces (27 per cent) are most interested buying property in the U.S.　

Bank of Montreal suggests that Canadians wanting to purchase in the United States should consider the questions shown below. 　While some of these are lifestyle questions which the prospects will have to answer for themselves, to answer other questions, a REALTOR’s input will be valuable. 　If you want to tap into this market, make sure you are knowledgeable and can refer prospects to tax advisors and others as needed. 　

Questions for Canadians Considering Purchasing in the United States:

• What states and neighborhoods fit your needs?
• Since you are responsible for property maintenance, consider how easily you can access your property from your Canadian home throughout the purchasing process and after acquisition.　
• Consider flights and airlines, if you can fly there direct, and the cost.　
• Research and even ask locals about the community to ensure it suits your needs.　
• What to consider when financing the purchase with a U.S. based financial institution?
• It is important to be aware of the differences in mortgage financing and how interest is charged in the U.S.　
• What mortgage money is available to international buyers?
• Furthermore, understand the impact of penalties and withholding taxes if and when you decide to sell your home in the U.S.　
• Do you understand the status of the property?
• Understand the terms of the property. For instance, is it labeled as short-sale or on foreclosure?　
• The status of the property can have a variety of implications. Be sure to consult an expert before making any buying decisions.　
• How will you use your property?
• Is your purchase for investment or lifestyle purposes? This will affect where you buy and how you hold the property. Also, understand the options available and what will benefit you in the long run.　
• If your purchase is for income purposes, keep in mind that renting your property means added responsibility. Research the possibilities of increased utility usage, property management needs and the vacancy rate in the area to ensure you’re prepared. Investment properties can be subject to taxation in two countries, so make sure you speak to a taxation specialist.　
• How much time will you spend south of the border? Consider how many months of the year you’ll be living there so that your purchase reflects your lifestyle.Be aware that there are rules regarding the amount of time you can spend in the U.S. before being considered a U.S. resident and subject to paying income tax.　

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.

After selling 2 homes in the last 7 days I am really starting to feel that the Edmonton Real Estate market is starting to pick up.

This could be do to the fact that many people are trying to buy before the March 18th deadline for the change in mortgage rules. But I also have to attribute it to a all the economic developement that is starting to happen in Edmonton now and scheduled for the year 2012.

The Edmonton rea estate market should be booming again and I see prices increasing again in the incoming 18 months as well as I expect interest rates to increase and we see economic recovery happening and we see the Bank of Canada trying to curb any inflationary pressures by raising interest rates.

This make now the best time to buy for the next 2 years before prices in Emdonton go up and before interest rates also go up.

Last week I was really excited to see the listing to sales ratio drop below the 4:1 ratio that we need for a neutral or balance market. I guess that was short lived because that ratio did not stay below the 4:1 ratio.

As of today there are 2,174 single family homes listed for sale on the Multiple Listing Service for sale in Edmonton proper. In the last 30 days there were 496 sales a slight drop from the previous week. This will give us a listing to sales ratio of 4.38:1 slightly higher than what we need for a balance or neutral market.

With the ratio bouncing just over and just under the benchmark ratio it is indicating to me that the market is not sure which directions it wants to go so we will probably see a fairly stable valuation of homes for the time being.

Once I see at least 3 consecutive weeks of the ratio being one direction of other we will not really know which way it is going.

Just like I have been telling you would happen the market has changed from a buyer’s market to a seller’s market.

As of today there were 2,126 single family homes listed on the Multiple Listing System (MLS ®) in Edmonton proper. That is an increase of 92 listings from last weeks inventory level of 2,034

More importantly there was 535 homes sold on the Multiple Listing System (MLS ®) in Edmonton proper in the previous 30 days. That is an increase of  106 sales from last week’s number of 429 sales.

This gives us a listing to sales ratio of 3.97:1 which is a significant drop from las weeks and is now marginally below the 4:1 ratio that is the benchmark for a neutral and balanced market.

I say we are swinging over to a seller’s market beause I expect that ratio to continue to drop even lower in the next few weeks and we are going to see upward pressure on home valuations.

If you are thinking of buying then the sooner you make that move the better price that you will get.  With all that is driving the Edmonton economy at this time I continue to expect the Edmonton Real Estate market to continue to grow stronger.

Well folks I am back from my trip to China and I am here to let you know what is happening to the Edmonton real estate market.

As of today “Valentine’s Day” there are 2, 034 single family dwellings for sale in Edmonton proper. That is a much lower number of listings than we were seeing at the end of last year which I see as a positive sign.

However in the last 30 days there has been only 429 single family dwellings sold in Edmonton proper. This is also a drop from the volume of sales that we were seeing at the end of 2010.

This gives us a listing to sales ratio of 4.74:1.  That ratio is still a little bit high.  If you remember we need a ratio of 4:1 for a neutral or balanced market.  So based on this ratio in the short term I still expect that there will be some downward pressure on valuations and only those homes that are priced very competitively are going to be the ones that sell.

I think that we might see this change soon as we see the buyers come back to the market as we get deeper into this early spring market.

Interest rates are on the rise again.  I am also expecting rates to continue to increase slightly as we progress into our spring market place.  If you are thinking of buying this year you may want to move your time table to the next 60 days before we see any further increases in rates and before the new mortgage rules come into effect in April.

This has been a year of ups and downs as we saw house values increase in value from January until the beginning of June. We did however see valuations drop about 10% since that time giving back any gains that we might have made in the beginning of the New Year.

The good news is that the listing to sales ratio has drastically improved in the last month. As of today December 13th, 2010 there are 2265 single family homes for sale in Edmonton proper. In the past 30 days there have been 525 single family homes sold in Edmonton proper.

This would give us a listings to sales ratio of 4.31:1. That is a significant improvement over the ratio hovering around the 6:1 that we saw last month and is basically at the 4:1 ratio that we need for a balanced or neutral market.

The window of opportunity is closing for people thinking of buying. With the oil and gas industry going so strong right now I am fully expecting this ratio to drop over the next 3 months and we will start seeing valuations increase.

If you don’t buy now you will probably have to pay more money for your next home come the New Year.

That is my last two cents until the New Year. I would like to wish everyone a Happy Holidays and a prosperous New Year.

 Make sure to read our BLOG every week to see how the trend changes.