Edmonton Real Estate Blog

OTTAWA – Canadian home resales improved 41.5 per cent year over year to 42,288 units in October, a record for the month, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The national average price for homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service also reached a new high in October at $341,079. This was 20.7 per cent higher than the same month last year.

* Related: Canada’s hottest housing markets | Coolest markets

New sales records for the month were reported in one-fifth of local markets, including Toronto, Montreal and Ottawa.

On a seasonally adjusted basis, MLS home sales totalled 45,818 units in October, two per cent higher than the previous record set in May 2007 and 74 per cent above the recent low in January.

“Low interest rates and upbeat consumer confidence continue to release the pent-up demand that built late last year and earlier this year,” stated CREA president Dale Ripplinger.

“The release of that pent-up demand has boosted national sales activity to new heights and is drawing down inventories.”

* Tell us: Is Canada experiencing a housing bubble?

The sharp rise in demand for homes has shrunk inventories to 194,994 or a seasonally adjusted 4.1 months worth, the lowest level in more than two years and 20.8 per cent below the peak reached a year ago. This is the sixth month in a row in which inventories are down from year-ago levels.

Seasonally adjusted new listings on MLS were slightly higher in October compared to September at 65,148 units. New listings peaked in May 2008, then declined until March 2009, and have remained relatively steady since then.

“New listings are still expected to rise in the coming months in response to headline average price increases,” stated CREA chief economist Gregory Klump.

“New supply dropped dramatically in December last year and earlier this year in response to a difficult pricing environment. Sellers who moved to the sidelines should be drawn back to the market as prices rise further over the rest of the year and in early 2010.”

Source: The Canadian Press, cp.org, November 16, 2009

Edmonton, November 3, 2009: Resale housing sales continued their strong trend through October with sales of all housing types through the Multiple Listing Service® in October at the second highest level on record (after October 2006). There were 1,535 residential properties sold in October; up 23% from 2008 but down almost 10% from last month which follows the normal seasonal trend of month to month sales dropping through the fall.

“The housing market in Edmonton and area is still robust,” said Charlie Ponde, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “Homebuyers are confident about their future prospects and keeping an eye on the possibility that mortgage rates will rise. They can lock-in their housing costs for five years while rates are at historic lows if they buy in this market.”

Residential housing prices remained stable within typical ranges for seasonal fluctuations. Prices for single family dwellings were down 2.2%, on average* from last month but up marginally (0.12%) from last year. Condominiums were priced down 3.2% from September but the same price ($11 difference) as a year ago. Overall, the average residential price in October was $318,969, down 2.5% from last month but up a third of a percent from 2008. Single family dwellings sold for $363,694 and condos sold, on average, for $237,601.

There were 2,205 homes listed on the MLS® System in October with 1,535 sales for a sales-to-listing ratio of 70%. The total value of residential sales in October was $490 million and total MLS® System sales (including rural and commercial properties) is up over last year for the year-to-date to over $6.18 billion. Total available inventory was 5,530 homes which is a typical 3.5 month supply. Homes sold on average in 47 days (44 in September but 58 in October 2008).

“Good looking homes in the average price range always sell quickly,” said Ponde. “Less desirable homes may take a little longer to find a buyer and home sales at the upper price ranges are steady. It is important to consult your REALTOR® to devise a strategy for buying or selling a home to ensure you get the latest market and neighbourhood information.”

Source: REALTORS® Association of Edmonton

While some real estate markets in Canada are really hot it would appear that we are cooling down.  That is not to says we were really hot to begin with.

As of this morning there were 1,810 active residential single family dwellings listed for sale in Edmonton proper.  That is down 6.2% from last weeks number of 1,930.  The number of sales were also down 9.3% last week from 652 to 604.

That would give us a listing to sales ratio of 3:1 a slight increase over last week.  Looking at that number alone would indicate that the market is still strong and we should not be concern.  However the trending of listing dropping is a concern, but what is even more disturbing is the number of sales is dropping at a faster rate than the listings.

If that ratio get to 4:1 or greater expect it to become a buyers market here again, but for right now we are still in a slight sellers market.

If you are a buyer are you willing to roll the dice that things will get worse and maybe better deals might be out there?  But remember the number of listings are dropping which means there would be fewer homes to choose from and it might be more difficult to find the right home.

As for sellers are you will to roll the dice that things will turn around and valuations start to rise again??  Remember that economic numbers as of late shows that the economic recovery isn’t that great as a matter of fact based on the last numbers it might be getting worse again.  Are you prepare to take the chance, and possibly have to sell your home at an even lower price in the near future?

Only you can make those decisions.  As for me I will continue to give you the statistics every week and give you my opinion.  And right now I am concern because unlike the rest of the year where I was able to accurately forecast increasing valuation, right now I am not sure which way we are going to go.

Some of you might have heard how the Toronto market has become a seller’s market.  A large number of the new listing coming on the market are receiving multiple offers, and people have even gotten creative by including videos with their written offers pleading for their offer to be accepted.

Well we are a long way from that here in Edmonton.  The Edmonton marketplace has been strong in comparison to the rest of Canada for well over 18 months.  The listing to sales ratio is hovering around th 3:1 at this time, which indicates that there might me still some upward pressure on valuations, but we are far from becoming a hot market.

The number of new listings coming on the market has kept pace with the sales, and until that changes we can expect the market to remain fairly stable.

Well I think the fall market place is definitely here.  There has been an increase in the number of single family homes for sale in Edmonton proper from 1,930 homes to 1,951 this week.  The slight increase in available homes for sale is probably due to the reduction in the number of sales in the last 30 days from 683 to 652.

With those kinds of numbers we would have a listing to sales ratio of 2.99:1 and increase from last week at 2.83:1.  This indicates to me that we are going to be seeing less upward pressure on valuations, possibly even a leveling off.  We are going to have to watch this ratio closely as if continues to rise we might even see downward pressure on valuations.

Well it is appearing that the Edmonton real estate market is staying strong.  As of today there are 1,930 single family homes listed for sale in the Edmonton area which is only a slight drop in inventory since last week.  Sales however increased slightly from 675 to 683.

The end result is that the listing to sales ratio dropped to 2.83:1 from last weeks 2.88:1 which indicates that the market is still strong and that valuations should still continue to rise slightly.

With pressure still on valuations to rise in Edmonton and the potential for an interest increase now is the time to buy.

Happy Thanksgiving Day!

I guess there is no rest for the wicked as I am off after this to show home on this wintery day, but that is not why you come here to visit me today.  So here is what is happening to our real estate market in Edmonton.

As of this morning there were 1,946 single family homes listed on the Multiple Listing Service in Edmonton proper.  That is a slight decrease of last week but to be expected as we are heading into the fall season.  In the last 30 days we have seen 675 sales of single family homes in Edmonton proper.  That gives us a listing to sales ratio of 2.88:1

This is very consistent to what we saw last week and I am expecting the market to remain fairly stable for the next few weeks.

Although sales were not at record levels in September, they compared favourably with sales levels last year and settled in for the third best September ever. Only sales in September 2006 of 1,844 residential units and last September (1,729) were better than the 1,704 sales pegged last month.

“We have experienced strong sales through the third quarter,” said Charlie Ponde, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “At the end of the first quarter YTD sales were down over 21%, and after six months they were up almost 2%. The last three months have had strong buyer demand and year-to-date sales are up 5.3% over the same period last year.”

The strong sales also boosted prices of both single family and condominium properties. Prices dipped slightly in August after showing steady gains all year but bounced back to mid-summer levels in September. The average price of a single family dwelling was $371,947 and condos were priced on average at $245,546 (both up 1.4% over August prices). SFD prices are up over $20,000 from where they were on New Years Day.

Higher prices have not resulted in greater listing activity. 2,564 homes were listed in September resulting in a 66% sales-to-listing ratio as compared to September 2008 with over 3,100 listings and a 55% S/L ratio. The slower listing activity dropped inventory to 6,032 from 6,445 units last month but there is still almost four months of inventory at present sales volumes.

Duplex and row house properties sold on average for $299,964 and the combined Average Residential Price was $327,235 in September; up 2% from September 2008.

“Homes are selling slightly faster than last month and much faster than last year at this time,” said Ponde. “I expect that sales in this market will show continued strength through the fall and early winter.” The average days-on-market was 44 in September; down four days from August.

Highlights of MLS® System activity

¹. Residential includes SFD, condos and duplex/row houses.
². Single Family Dwelling
³. The middle figure in a list of all sales prices

* Average prices indicate market trends only. They do not reflect actual prices, which may vary

Source: Realtors Association of Edmonton

I have to let you all know how excited I am.  I just came back from a 3 day course in Calgary on real estate investing and I have to tell you even for an old dog like myself that has been in this industry since before computers I learned so much.  It is amazing what you didn’t know that you didn’t know!!

Let’s get back to what is happening in the Edmonton Real Estate Market.  As of this morning in Edmonton proper there were 1,936 active single family dwellings listed.  That is almost an 8% drop from last week.  In the last 30 days we have seen 674 single family homes sold in Edmonton proper, which is an increase of 2.4%

Well it doesn’t take a rocet scientist to know that if supply is going down and sales increasing that valuations are probably rising.  As a matter of fact the current listings to sales ratio is down to 2.87:1 in comparison to 3.21:1 last week.

As long as that ratio stays well below the 4:1 needed here in Edmonton for a neutral or balanced market valuations are going to continue to rise.  So if you are a first time buyer you cannot afford to wait till you have more downpayment you need to make the more now.  If you are thinking of buying a more expensive home from your current home again you cannot wait as your next home will go up more in value than your present home.  For those that are downsizing then maybe you want to wait as long as you can, because you will pur more money in your pocket.

Well that is it for me right now.  Keep checking here on the blog when I will be sharing some of what I learned in my course over the weekend, otherwise I hope that you have a terrific week and I will see you here next Monday with the statistics of the week.

I guess we can be happy with the thought that the market seems to be stabilizing.  My concern is with the market stabilizing it will not take much for the market to go either way up or down depending on what might be in the news that week…

As of this morning there were 2,098 active single family homes on the market in Edmonton proper.  Again a relatively consistent number with what we have seen in the last few weeks.  The number that is somewhat worrisome is the number of sales.  In the last 30 days there were 658 single family homes sold.  That is a number that is has been declining of the last few weeks.

With the current listings and sales that give us a listings/sales ratio of 3.2:1.  That is a slight increase over last week.  So as this number continues to increase that would be an indicator that the market is softening.  

I am hoping that is just a seasonal softening of the market which normal.  On a brighter side of the homes that did sell the average days on market are 38.

This is also an indicator that if a property has been on the market longer than that it is properly over-priced.  Even in today’s market the very best deals are selling in the first 3 days of them hitting the market.

So in order to get the best deal if you are thinking about buying would be to contact Kate at 780-634-8151 so she can set up a search that will allow you to receive the homes that would match your criteria the moment they are listed and you can take advantage to view this deals before they are sold to another buyer.