Market Conditions for Edmonton, Alberta Reported by Teresa Mardon, REALTOR, C.E.T., TOP 5% Edmonton Real Estate Board Yearly since 2001, Royal Lepage Director's Platinum Award! Updated May 3, 2012.

Current Market Rating: 3 1 2 3 4 5 Buyer's Seller's

Current Price Trend: 3 1 2 3 4 5 Falling Rising

All statistics reported here are courtesy of the Edmonton Real Estate Board, (see my website at www.TeresaMardon.com).

April's results were somewhat muted in terms of unit sales. At 1,713 this was the second lowest April in the last eight years, below only 2011. We are however up 5.3% over April, 2011 and up 1.4% over March. Market activity typically experiences a bit of a lull in April, then reaches its peak for the year in May, so let's see what this month brings. The last three years have all peaked under 2,000 units, which is contrary to prior years.
On a positive note prices experienced a bit of a bump, reaching an average sale price of $337K. Since the boom year of 2007, this figure was exceeded only in 2010. We're up 3.1% over April of last year and up 0.6% over March, 2012.
All housing categories were up in value, the leader being duplexes/town houses which increased 5.9% over March. This group comprises only 5.9% of the total market so the effect of any price movements here does not have a big overall effect.
April's end of month active inventory is the lowest for this month in several years. Although sales were quiet, they were not sufficiently down to force the market back into a "Buyers Market". The ratio of Sales to Active Listings remained above 0.20, (below this marker is considered to signal a "Buyers Market"). As well, "Average Days on Market" was 50 days - below 60 is said to indicate a "Balanced Market". Sellers should note this statistic is cyclical, and over the last few years, a "Balanced Market" has been evident only during the spring season.
Edmonton Northwest enjoyed the largest year-over-year April price gain at 22.2%; Edmonton Southwest came in second at 6.5%. The largest gain over March also goes to Edmonton Northwest at 17.9% - it appears most of their annual increase occurred in April.
The number of new homes being constructed has been more than sufficient to house our recent population growth, at least partially accounting for the muffled resale market. Gone are the heady days of five years ago when housing was considered as much an investment vehicle ripe with possibilities for value appreciation, as it was a place to live. Some sellers still have a little trouble with that concept, and insist on over-pricing their houses accordingly. It would be well to remember that for every house sold in Edmonton and environs, there are 4.5 that sit unsold - competition is fairly stiff. Back in 2007, that figure was more like 2.0 and in some months houses were selling faster than they came on the market. Those bidding wars you've been reading about are occurring pretty much only in Toronto right now, and involve off-shore buyers, a phenomenon we haven't seen much of in Edmonton. Even Vancouver prices have been modestly correcting of late, where they have experienced five consecutive months of decline. Calgary's housing market has remained steady, much like our experience in Edmonton.



Location Characteristics: Edmonton is the capital of the province of Alberta. The city is located on the North Saskatchewan River in the central region of the province, an area with some of the most fertile farmland on the prairies. It is the second largest city in Alberta after Calgary, and is the hub of Canada's sixth-largest census metropolitan area.

In the Canada 2006 Census, the city had a population of 730,372, and its census metropolitan area had a population of 1,034,945, making it the northernmost North American city with a metropolitan population over one million. The 2009 civic census showed a population of 782,439. At 684 km2 (264 sq mi), the City of Edmonton covers an area larger than Chicago, Philadelphia, Toronto, or Montreal. Edmonton has one of the lowest population densities in North America, about 9.4% that of New York City. A resident of Edmonton is known as an Edmontonian.

Edmonton serves as the northern anchor of the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor (one of four regions that together comprise 50% of Canada's population) and is a staging point for large-scale oil sands projects occurring in northern Alberta and large-scale diamond mining operations in the Northwest Territories.

Edmonton is Canada's second most populous provincial capital (after Toronto) and is a cultural, governmental and educational centre. It plays host to a year-round slate of world-class festivals, earning it the title of "The Festival City." It is home to North America's largest mall, West Edmonton Mall (which was the world's largest mall for a 23 year period from 1981 until 2004). and Fort Edmonton Park, Canada's largest living history museum. In 2004, Edmonton celebrated the centennial of its incorporation as a city.


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