RE/MAX Edmonton Real Estate News

The Edmonton Real Estate Board has released their sales statistics for May, and while not totally unpredictable, they shows an interesting mix of trends. Though previous months coming into spring have all been strongly affected by inventory, this major factor has started to stabilize in the face of rising list prices.

Though the city currently has nearly 30% more residential properties listed, the market has begun to show signs of plateauing in this trend– which showed a 2% decrease in new listings this May compared to the same time last year.  Now, well into June, this slight decline is expected to continue into the later summer months.

Days on market is a key factor in this slowing trend. With previously skyrocketing inventory, sales were forced to slow, causing an even greater surplus. Now with a saturated market, economy dictated that inventory would eventually begin decreasing.

“As expected, the average days on market is up four days year-over-year and one day over last month at 45. We can expect this number to continue to grow due to slower sales and higher inventory.” describes REALTORS® Association of Edmonton President Geneva Tetrault.

The EREB latest market report details that the May average for days on market was 43 for single family homes, 49 for condominiums, and 45 for row and duplex housing.

However, historically summer is generally the busiest time for real estate, and sales trends are starting to reflect the seasonal change coming into June. May 2015 reported 1,784 residential sales, showing a 12% increase from April 2015. Due to market inventory, year over year trends are still showing decreases in reported sales from the same time last year. Overall residential sales are down 10% when compared with May of  2014, with the exception of duplex and row housing which has increased 4% – likely influenced by Edmonton’s booming infill initiative. Tetrault comments,

“Last month we were down 13% year-over-year in all residential sales. This month we are down less than 10%. We expect this trend of increased sales to continue as confidence in the stability of the market grows.”

Tetrault goes on to explain current sales figures,

“We are still seeing multiple offers in popular price brackets. The fact that we haven’t seen a decline in prices is giving buyers more assurance. They are venturing back into the market with the feeling that prices won’t plummet any time soon.”

Sale prices showed a steady incline well into May, with the overall residential average at $381,111, a 2% increase from the same time last year. Single family dwellings showed a 3% increase whilst condominiums were up 2% year over year. Conversely to inventory sales figures, duplex and row housing showed a slight decline in pricing, down around 2% from May 2014

Tetrault concludes,

“People are continuing to take advantage of low interest rates and a greater selection in the marketplace. We are moving into our busiest season for real estate. Your local REALTOR® can help you find what you are looking for in the neighbourhood that best suits your needs.”

If you are interested in buying or selling an Edmonton property, CLICK HERE to connect with an experienced agent.

The EREB has released their latest market report, and the last one we will see for the year.

As 2014 is comes to a close the Edmonton real estate market has slowed only negligibly and remains resilient despite expected seasonal cooling. Market spikes showed some plateauing throughout November, but REALTORS® Association of Edmonton President Greg Steele assures us,

 “The housing market has been very strong and robust this year. We are expecting to see continued growth in housing sales for some time, but at a slower and more stable pace.”

Dropping temperatures in the city aren’t stopping motivated sellers this winter. Image Credit: Hendrik Slegtenhorst

According to MLS figures the average residential sales price for November was $381,371,  showing an increase of over 4% from the previous month, and an almost 10% growth in year-over-year comparisons. Single family dwellings averaged out at $442,884 for November (a 3.76% rise) however condominiums showed a minimal 2% sale price drop to $255,167, which is still a 5.3% price increase from the previous year. Total residential sales are up 11% from November of 2013. 

While sale prices remain strong, inventory saw a decrease as fall came to a close, with 1137 properties sold in November in contrast to 1505 sales in October. Total inventory is down 12%, however the year-over-year decrease is only about 4%. The benefit to this slight drop in supply has been the decrease in total days on market as buyers snap up residential listings. Last year at this time we saw on average 57 days on market, whereas this past November residences were sold in an average of 54 days. Edmonton condominiums, with an average of only 12 days on the market, are exceeding expectations in this category possibly due to the minor drop in prices we have seen recently. 

Steele remains confident in the market as we come into the new year,

“It has been a great year for Real Estate. As we do every year, we expect things to cool off as the temperature drops, but we always have new homes listed and sold over the winter months. People move when life happens, which does not necessarily correlate with warm weather.”

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