RE/MAX Edmonton Real Estate News

Rowhouse/Duplex style homes continue to be the superstars of the YEG home market.

In the face of a potential economic crunch for Albertans, do EREB mid-winter sales statistics offer any light at the end of the tunnel? Has the real estate sector yet seen any fallout from this relatively recent downslide? While some areas have shown relative decline, such as condominiums, we continue to see promise in areas of duplex and rowhousing, which remain up in sales, while total number of property sales also remains strong.

REALTORS® Association of Edmonton Chair Geneva Tetreault summarizes her big takeaway on the year overall,

“2015 was a steady year for real estate in Edmonton. Edmonton and the surrounding areas experienced a decline in sales due to economic uncertainty, but we saw a slight increase in price that demonstrated that the market remained relatively stable. This began to cool in the fall months as inventory remained higher than normal.”

These expected patterns indicate the real estate market is following the largely predictable up and down cycle we see recurring year after year, and therefore provides an optimistic outlook about the market’s relative economic resilience.

As reported by the EREB, the cooling of December prices was not only “seasonally normal” but proved advantageous to potential home buyers. Total residential sale prices dropped a slight 0.9% from November of 2015, with the average price of a single family detached home decreasing to $424, 629 (compared to November’s $432, 862). Condominium prices decreased 1.8% to $248, 956 yet duplex/rowhouses reported a whopping 10% increase in price up to $374, 217. These prices are in fact up, in year over year comparisons. The year ended with average single family home prices up 1% from the year previous, and all residential properties up an average of 1.5% total. This is an area where even condominiums showed a slight increase (about 0.5% from the year previous). The 2015 condominum average sale price was up tp $252, 954, and single family homes rose to $437, 569, while all residential properties averaged out at $372, 511.

The sales to listings ratio for the year was 54% (evening out slightly from 2014 when it was 16% higher) while average days on market were up only 4 days from the year previous, to 51 days. Inventory continued to dominate throughout 2015, with year end inventory at a staggering 5,088 properties.  In comparison, at the end of 2014, year end inventory was at 3059 available MLS properties.

The new year continues to carry forward 2015’s trends of high inventory, and in ever increasing buyers market. Tetrault comments on these trends,

“We continued to see home buyers take advantage of low mortgage rates. An influx of listings at the beginning of the year, meant that buyers had a larger selection of homes and were able to take more time selecting properties than in previous years. We continue to see a tight market in the popular $400,000 price range for single family homes.”

Overall, 2015 MLS sales were down about 9% from the year previous, however it should be emphasized that this drop still shows a 1% increase over 2013 numbers. Single family homes represented this average, with a 9% decrease, while condos showed a decline in sales of around 13%. The ever popular rowhouse/duplex category continued to dominate the market with a rise in sales of 6%. In total Edmonton realtors reported 17,298 residential sales via MLS last year.

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2015 went as quickly as it came, and we are left with another year of choices to reflect upon. Wether  you felt it was a highly successful year, personally or professionally, or if 2015 left something to be desired, the key to reflection is personal growth. The following steps are aimed at personal development which in turn will make your a more accessible and approachable professional figure. Implementing these small life changes will show dedication to continual self improvement.

Be A Swift Responder. Make a point of returning correspondences immediately. Have your calls, emails, and social media messages forwarded to your smart phone, so you can receive communication from anywhere, and more importantly, respond immediately. Turn that potential customer into a lifelong client by being the first agent to reply.

Commit to Lifelong Learning. Sign up for courses offered by Re/Max University, AREA Professional Development to always be challenging yourself and grow. It doesn’t have to be innately real estate related. Why not take a Metro Continuing Education photography class, and take better photos for MLS, or choose a beginner language course and broaden your client base.

Maintain Your Network. Have a lawyer, mortgage broker, painting service, and house cleaner on hand and build good relationships. Send wine, gifts, and thank you notes to show appreciation for a job well done. Send Christmas cards to past clients; even if you know they’re not interested you never know who they will pass your name to. Is your cousin in the furnace repair business? Keep a card on hand to refer customers to. Making an effort in all facets of your life will help improve social skills, build reciprocity, and create a dedicated business persona.

 Be an open book. Don’t leave your clients in the dark or assume they understand the real estate process. Many clients may be first time buyers and are probably more terrified and overwhelmed than they let on. Don’t be afraid to over-explain, people will stop you if they get it, mostly likely though they will be grateful to have the additional info. It also gives you a great chance to shine, you’ve put a lot of effort into honing your real estate skills, why not take moment to show off.

 Practice Self-Discipline. This means showing up on time, never double booking, being mentally present with appropriate paperwork, and having your homework done. This will show the client that you respect their valuable time, and appreciate their business. Show up to a viewing ten minutes early, with extra highlight sheets, and an overview of the neighbourhood and amenities. Your clients will see you care as much about their new home as they do.

Adapt to technology. Chances are if you aren’t particularly picky you will have a broad range of clients with a large range of abilities. You may have established clients who like phone calls, hang on to business cards, and receive faxed documents. Then of course your new clients may prefer dealing in texts and emails, having found out about you via your twitter or facebook page. Keeping current and constantly adapting opens you up to the broadest possible market of clientele. It takes less than 5 minutes to post an Instagram of your new listing which can then be cross shared with Facebook and Twitter. “Check-In” at your open house so clients know where to find you, then share success stories and photos of happy customers. It will showcase you as a genuine person with a real passion for client satisfaction.