Market Conditions for St. Albert, 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: St. Albert is a city in Alberta, located northwest of Edmonton, on the Sturgeon River. It was originally settled as a Metis community, and is now, other than Edmonton itself, the largest city in the Edmonton area. St. Albert first received its town status in 1904 and was reached by the Canadian Northern Railway in 1907.

Originally separated from Edmonton by several miles of farmland, the 1980s expansion of Edmonton's city limits placed St. Albert immediately adjacent to the larger city on St. Albert's south and east sides.

St. Albert was founded in 1861 by Father Albert Lacombe O.M.I, who built a small chapel: the Father Lacombe Chapel in the Sturgeon River valley. This chapel still stands to this day on Mission Hill in St. Albert and is the oldest building in Western Canada. The original settlement was named Saint Albert by Bishop Alexandre-Antonin Taché O.M.I. after Lacombe's name saint; Saint Albert of Louvain. Although Lacombe had originally intended to found the mission at Lac Ste. Anne, the soil proved infertile and he moved the settlement to what would become St. Albert. The location offered several advantages, notably its easy access to supplies of wood and water, its excellent soil, it being a regular stopping point for First Nations peoples on their travels, and its proximity to Fort Edmonton, where the priests could purchase necessary supplies and minister to Catholic workers. A few years later, a group of Grey Nuns would follow Lacombe from Lac Ste. Anne.

During the late 20th and early 21st century it was mistakenly assumed that the community had been named after St. Albert the Great. This was due to incorrect information in the 1985 history of St. Albert; The Black Robe's Vision, published by the amateur historians of the St. Albert Historical Society. This led to the City of St. Albert erroneously promoting St. Albert the Great as the community's patron saint and even erecting a statue of the wrong saint in the downtown area. This misconception was not corrected until 2008. The original chapel has since become an historic site staffed with historical interpreters and is open to the public in the summer season.

Also in St. Albert is the St. Albert Grain Elevators Park. There are two historic Grain Elevators there; one constructed in 1906 by the Alberta Grain Company, the other was built later in 1929 by The Alberta Wheat Pool company. There is also a reproduction of the original 1909 railway station housed at the Grain Elevators Park, the reproduction was contructed in 2005. On Madonna Drive stands the Little White School House which is open to the public. Arts and Heritage - St. Albert maintain this site as well as the Grain Elevators and other heritage buildings and sites under restoration in the City. In June 2009, the City Council approved a multi-staged plan for the heritage sites. The plan features the restoration of the grain elevators and the opening of both a Métis and French Canadian farm on adjacent lots by the River.

According to Statistics Canada 2001 Census, St. Albert had a population of 53,081 (subsequently it grew to 54,588 in 2003,56,310 in 2005 and 58,501 in 2008). The growth rate from 1998 to 2003 was 10.8%. A total of 19,037 private dwellings were enumerated in the city, which has a land area of 34.61 km2 (13.36 sq mi), resulting in a population density of 1,335 people per km² (3,457.6/sq mi).

In 2006, St. Albert had a population of 57,719 living in 20,938 dwellings, an 8.7% increase from 2001. The city has a land area of 35.04 km2 (13.5 sq mi) and a population density of 1,647.4 /km2 (4,266.7/sq mi). St. Albert has placed in the top 5 of "Most Wealthy Cities in Canada" based on average net income per citizen, since 2000.



For More Information:

• Visit My Web Site
  
• View My Newsletter
  
• Ask Me A Question