Edmonton Real Estate Blog

I just finished reading the press release from the Realtors Assc. Of Edmonton and I was very surprised at their statistics. They are indicating that it is still a rather slow market in Edmonton which was opposite to what I had been experiencing. The month of January was one of my busiest January’s that I can remember since starting real estate in 1985.

But let us look at what an analysis of the market really tells us. As of today February 03, 2012 there are 2003 single family homes listed in Edmonton proper. I found that to be a relatively low number.

However when I take a look at the number of sales in the previous 30 days there were only
440 homes sold. That is a number much lower than I had anticipated based on the number of homes that I personally have sold.

This would give us a listing to sales ration of 4.55:1. With a ratio that high it would indicate that there is still downward pressure on valuations and still a buyer’s market which is supported by the press release from the Realtor’s Assc. Of Edmonton.

However I think this will be short live and we will shortly see the pendulum swing the
other way back into a seller’s market soon. So if you are thinking of buying better buy soon before valuations start to rise again.

Edmonton, January 4, 2012: The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton reported that the all-residential average price for real estate sales through the Multiple Listing Service® (MLS®) in December was
up 1.7% ($316,415) from a year ago. The average price of a single family detached home was also up 2.0% to $364,803 from December 2010. Relative to last December housing prices were up overall as well. As typical for December whensales usually fall off, month over month sales were down 27% and prices dipped 1.5% as compared to the November figures.

“With economic uncertainty impacting Europe and depressed housing markets in parts of the United States, it is a relief to report on the stability and health of the local real estate market,” said REALTORS® Association of Edmonton President (2011) Chris Mooney. “With prices and sales varying within a small
range there is a solid base going forward into the 2012 market.”

In November the average price of a single family detached home was $364,924and dipped just 0.3% in December. A year ago the average price was $357,636. That stability was reflected in condo pricing as well. In November the average price of a condo was $228,689 and the December price of $227,679 was down just 0.4%. A year ago the average condo price was $225,641. Duplex and rowhouse properties sold on average for $282,620, a 9.7% drop from a year ago.

The average residential price (including all SFD, condo, duplex, townhouse properties sold in the Greater Edmonton Area) was $316,415: down from November by 1.5%. There were 1,085 properties listed and 827 sold in December. There were 1,088 listings and 829 sales in December 2010. With slower sales the
Days-on-market was 65 and the sales-to-listing ratio was a high for the year of 76.2%.

Looking back over the year, Mooney was content. “Last January, I forecast a 3% increase in single family prices and no movement in condo prices when comparing December to December. We ended up with a change of about half that overall and condo prices up. Homeowners generally saw an equity increase in the value of their homes in 2011.”

The all-residential average price for the entire year was $325,457 as compared to $329,019 in 2010. There were 10,962 SFD sales (up 5.5%) in 2011 and 4,638 (down 0.4%) condo sales. Total residential sales were 16,893 units (up 3.8%) on listings of 30,906 units (down 2.0%).

Total MLS® sales (including residential, rural, recreational and commercial properties) were valued at $6.29 billion and represented 39,350 listings and 18,986 sales transactions. “REALTORS® were involved in almost 60,000 real estate transactions in 2011 and advised on thousands more that never
materialized. There were tens of thousands of business people, families and individuals who met with one of our 3,200 REALTOR® members this year, and I am proud of their service to the community and the local economy,” said Mooney.

REALTORS® also provided funding of $300,000 to 44 community groups this year through the REALTORS® Community Foundation and supported arts, heritage and community events through marketing and individual contributions. The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton printed over 2.5 million copies of the Real Estate Weekly in 51 issues and 1,061 members participated in professional development courses including 225 new members and 20 new broker/managers.

I would first like to wish everyone a Happy and Prosperous
New Year! As it can be expected the market of the last 30 days has been slow
because of Christmas and New Years take our focus from real estate and towards
the holiday festivities.

Currently there are 1,790 single family dwellings listed on
the market in Edmonton proper. That lower inventory level that we have seen in
the last few months as people let their listings expire and come off the market
for the holiday season.

In the past 30 days there were 367 single family dwellings
sold. This reflects the season slow down that we would expect.

This gives us a listings to sales ration of 4.87:1 which
normally would indicate that there would be downward pressure on valuation.
However the seasonal slowdown is giving us a ratio that might not really be
indicative of the real market situation. I think that over the next 2 – 4 weeks
we will see this ratio change significantly as the buyers come back to the
market. I also expect that when they do we will probably see increasing
pressure for valuations to rise.

We are nearing the Christmas and it is no surprise that the real estate market here in Edmonton is
slowing down.

As of today there were 2,413 single family homes for sale in Edmonton proper. That is about an average
inventory level for this time of year.

However the number of sales of single family homes in Edmonton proper in the last 30 days has only been 510. This gives us a listings to sales ratio of 4.73:1 which is still higher than the 4:1 that we need for a
neutral or balanced market.

This indicates that we are going to continue to have downward pressure on house valuations here in Edmonton and it is going to continue to be a Buyer’s Market.

If you want your homes to sell you are going to need to have your home very aggressively priced and be the lowest priced home against your competition.

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

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