Edmonton Real Estate Blog

CALGARY — Members of Generation Y strongly desire a house of their own but they’re pessimistic about their ability to do so, according to a new Royal LePage Real Estate survey released on Wednesday.

The survey, which was conducted by Leger Marketing, said 80.9 per cent of the Generation Y (born between 1980 and 1994) respondents said they have plans to move to another primary residence at some point in the future with 39 per cent stating a move is planned within the next two years.

However, the majority of the young generation feel pessimistic about their ability to own a home because of current house price affordability as 44.2 per cent ‘somewhat agree’ with this feeling and 28.3 per cent ‘strongly agree’.

“While Generation Y is more likely to rent their primary residence at this stage in their lives, they do not see this as desirable long-term solution,” said the real estate firm. “An overwhelming 85.7 per cent disagreed with the statement that ‘I do not desire to own a property in my lifetime as renting is preferable to me’.”

Of those who are planning a move, 55.1 per cent of Generation Y intend to purchase their next primary residence while 32.6 per cent plan to rent.

mtoneguzzi@calgaryherald.com

Twitter.com/MTone123
Source: MARIO TONEGUZZI, CALGARY HERALD MARCH 20, 2013

Edmonton’s Magrath Heights Area Real Estate Listings and Sales statistics from your Team Leading Edge Magrath Heights specialist… Serge Bourgoin

To view and search all Edmonton and are MLS listed homes for sale visit us at www.EdmontonHomesForSale.biz

Do you want to find out the value of the homes selling in your neighborhood? Come and use our free tool to get reports on the list and selling prices of homes in your area.

Visit us at:

www.homeinsight.com/Widget/default.asp?14MKQF165SZV

www.EdmontonHouseValuesOnline.ca

There’s a long list of ingredients needed to sell your home quickly. Obviously, you want to make your home as clean and uncluttered as possible. You should also make sure any outstanding repairs are done. And, of course, all the little things you can do to make your home “show” well are important, too.

But the number one ingredient needed to sell your home quickly is the right price tag. If you set the price of your home just right, buyers will come to see it, and there’s a good chance you’ll get some good offers. If you price your home too high, however, few buyers will take an interest in your property and it might languish on the market for months. Worse, it might not sell at all.

So how do you determine the right price at which to list your home?

One of the best ways is to do an analysis of what similar properties in your area have sold for recently. What people are actually paying for homes like yours — in neighborhoods like yours — is the best indicator of the true market value of your home.

Want to find out what your home’s price tag should be in today’s market? Call today 780-634-8151.

The New Year has started strong for the Edmonton real estate market. On a regular basis I am seeing realtors promoting the sale of their new listings within days or even hours. So is this the beginning of another real estate boom in Edmonton? Everyone is commenting on the shortage of inventory. That is always a sign of things to come.

This morning I looked at how many single family homes were for sale in Edmonton proper. The number of homes at 1,776 is significantly lower than what we would normally see, which supports the claim that there is a shortage of inventory.

The other important fact is the number of sales that have occurred in the last 30 days. In Edmonton proper there were 549 single family homes sold. That in itself is a fairly normal number of homes sold for this time of year.

What makes these numbers important is the ratio that they generate for us. We know that in Edmonton to a stable or neutral market we need a listings to sales ratio of 4:1. Meaning there are 4 homes listed for every sale that occurs in the previous 30 days.

With the current market condition with 1,776 listings and 549 sales that would give us a listings to sales ratio of 3.23:1 far below the 4:1 that we need for a balance market. This indicates that we are going to have upward pressure on Edmonton real estate values in the incoming days.

So do expect house prices to start to rise. If you are thinking about buying this year, you may want to move your time table up now before prices rise too much, and while we have low rates like 2.89% for a 5 year term.

Call us today if you have been thinking of buying or need to get pre-approved for a mortgage. 780-634-8151.

Edmonton, February 4, 2013: Year-over-year average prices and sales were up for most types of residential property in the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) in January. Single Family Dwelling (SFD) average prices were down 1.93% from December but up 7.7% when compared to January 2012. Condominium prices were also down (-3.1%) month-over-month but up 1.7% year-over-year. The all-residential price was up year-over-year at $328,525 (up 2.5%). The average price for an SFD was $399,832. An average condo was priced at $216,139, while a duplex/row house was priced at $328,351 on average. The all-residential average price in the Edmonton CMA was $328,525 as compared to $320,482 in January 2012.

The 2013 year started off with a residential sales increase of 27 (25) units over the previous year. There were an estimated 921 (853 reported) residential sales in the Edmonton CMA and an estimated total of 1,084 (1,005 reported) sales of all types of property. SFD sales were down 1.4% from a year ago at 536 estimated (496 reported) sales. Condo and duplex/row house sales took up the slack with an estimated 286 (265 reported) condo sales (up 30.7%) and duplex/row house estimated sales of 64 (59 reported) units (up 24.9%).

“If there is an impending national housing crash, it is not evident in Edmonton,” said President Darrell Cook. “The number of price reductions is 4% lower than the same month last year.” The number of residential properties in the City of Edmonton that sold at or over list price rose from 9% in January 2012 to 12.6% this year. “This indicates that homes are appropriately priced for the market and that more home sellers are holding firm to their asking price,” said Cook.

The average days-on-market was 74 and the sales-to-listing ratio ended the month at 47%. There are currently 3,743 residential properties in inventory in the Edmonton CMA. This is lower than the five-year average for January (4,324) but still represents a 4.4 month supply at current sales levels.

REALTORS® changed their statistics reporting format this month. Sales and average price figures are given for the Edmonton CMA which includes the City of Edmonton and about 40 surrounding municipalities as defined by Statistics Canada. Then, because sales in the City of Edmonton account for about 75% of all sales, the figures are given for Edmonton only. Finally, communities and counties outside the CMA are not forgotten. The number of sales for each municipality along with average/median prices and total value of sales are provided in the Total Board section. All three reports are attached.

“All real estate is local,” said Cook. “It is important that we provide statistics that are relevant to each specific location. REALTORS® can provide their clients with more granularity or more specific details at the neighbourhood level.”

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Highlights of MLS® System activity

1 Census Metropolitan Area (Edmonton and surrounding municipalities)
2 Single Family Dwelling
3 The total value of sales in a category divided by the number of properties sold
4 The middle figure in a list of all sales prices
5 Residential includes SFD, condos and duplex/row houses.
6 Includes residential, rural and commercial sales

source: Realtors Association of Edmonton

Market “timing” isn’t the only factor that influences how quickly your house will sell or for how much.

The preparations you make before listing your house on the market will also have a big impact on your success. Consider these questions: How well is your house staged? Is it in a good state of repair? Is it priced correctly based on local market conditions? Is it listed and promoted so that all REALTORS® and their clients understand the advantages your house and neighbourhood have to offer?

Sure, there are peaks and slower cycles throughout the year. And, there are economic periods when the real estate market is either heating up or cooling down. But you don’t have any control over those factors. Plus, you can never accurately predict exactly where the market is within each cycle.

What you can control is how well you prepare your house for sale so that it’s desirable to as many potential buyers as possible.

So when is the best time to sell your house? When you want or need to sell it.

Want to find out how much your house will sell for in today’s market? Call today.

Canada’s economy is gradually recovering and is expected to grow by 2.25 % this year and 2.5 % in 2013, according to a new report by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

Private consumption and investment will continue to be the primary drivers of growth in Canada, said the report, which was published Tuesday.

Canada’s growth will slightly outpace the OECD average, which is expected to be 1.6% in 2012 and 2.2% in 2013.

Source: National Post – May 22, 2012

Lenders and policy makers are currently in discussions to change the mortgage rules again!! They are currently debating reducing the maximum amortization period back down to 25 years. This will make mortgage payments higher and will reduce the overall amount of a mortgage you will be able to qualify for.

They are also having discussions about increasing the amount of down payment required to buy.

Both of these will have a huge impact on your ability to buy, and how much you will be paying monthly. If you are thinking of buying you should consider buying right now before these changes come into being.

Search all MLS listed homes on our website www.edmontonhomesforsale.biz or call me today 780-995-6520

This has been one of the most strangest years that I can remember since I started real estate back in 1985. I say strange because it was the busiest January and February that I can ever remember having but by looking at the sales statistics it would appear not everyone was having the same success.

As of today March 03, 2012 there are 2,318 single family homes listed in Edmonton proper on the Multiple Listing System.  That is a reasonable listing level.

In the previous 30 days there were 604 single family homes sold in Edmonton proper through the Multiple Listing System. That is a significant increase over last months sales level.

This would give us a listings to sales ratio of 3.84:1 which is below the 4:1 we need in Edmonton for a neutral or balance market. This tells me that we are starting to see some increased pressure for valuations to start to rise.

If you are a buyer you better buy now before prices go up and interest rates go up. Call me today to help you find your dream home now. Serge 780 – 995 – 6520