Market Conditions for Sherwood Park, 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: Sherwood Park is a hamlet located east of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in the Specialized Municipality of Strathcona County. Sherwood Park was first established in 1954/55 on Smeltzer farmland, east of Edmonton. With a population in 2008 of 59,409, Sherwood Park has enough people to be Alberta's seventh largest city and, although Sherwood Park technically retains the status of a hamlet, the Government of Alberta recognizes the Sherwood Park Urban Service area as equivalent to a city. Its population as of the 2001 census was 47,645 and its land area is 70.98 km² (27.4 sq mi).

In the early 1950s, developers John Hook Campbell and John Mitchell envisioned a satellite town of 100 houses to accommodate employees of the industries east of Edmonton. In 1953, they received approval from the Municipal District of Strathcona for the development of the residential hamlet named "Campbelltown" and in September 1955, the first model homes were opened to the public. Later in 1956, the name of the hamlet was changed to Sherwood Park - Canada Post would not approve Campbelltown, since there were several Canadian communities with similar names.

Sherwood Park is governed by the Strathcona County Council, and the Mayor is Cathy Olesen.

Sherwood Park has a strong economy with over $9.0 billion worth of major projects completed, announced, or under construction. A roadway known as Refinery Row lies west of Sherwood Park and includes some of the largest industrial facilities in Western Canada, including Esso's Strathcona Refinery. The hamlet also boasts very low crime rates, including a violent crime rate near zero.

As of 2006, the community had a total population of 62 943 living in 21 255 dwellings. With a land area of 547.7 km2 (211.5 sq mi), it has a population density of 11.0 /km2 (28.5/sq mi).



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