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 January 8, 2012.

Current Market Rating: 2 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).

As we embark upon another New Year, our news analysts reflect on the year just past, searching for meaning, trends and significance in our usually chaotic world. And it certainly has been an eventful year. Europe seems unable to solve its debt problems, the Middle East appears on the cusp of a brave new world as the "Arab Spring" unfolds, and our American friends continue to inch toward economic recovery while gearing up for elections next November. It all makes our Edmonton real estate market look like a sea of tranquility and consistency in comparison. We continue a trend established in late 2007, bobbing along unable to decide conclusively between a Balanced Market, (spring and summer months), and a Buyers Market, (fall and winter months), and with average prices confined to a narrow band around $325K. As I've said before, a trend line applied to our average prices over this time period would be completely flat. Sales volume fluctuations are totally seasonal.
We have made little progress in dealing with our large inventory overhang. In a more ordinary environment the market would force a solution, most likely through price reductions. Historically low interest rates have been around so long the market has been artificially skewed and we have almost come to believe the current state of affairs is normal. It's not, and once rates start to rise, as they eventually surely will, we should expect real estate prices to adjust in response. Bank of Canada has made a few false starts in this direction, but has always been held back by the US Federal Reserve's refusal to lead the way. Fortunately for Canadian borrowers this isn't a step we can take independently from the US as it would send our currency soaring and cripple our export market - an extremely unpalatable outcome politically.
The gathering strength of Alberta's economy as demonstrated by our rate of job creation, (Edmonton is second among Canada's metro areas, and fifth in unemployment rate), insulates us somewhat from economic reality, but we continue to languish at 14 out of 27 in MLS unit sales and 20 out of 27 in MLS prices. We are thirteenth in housing starts and fifteenth in building permits, putting us squarely in the middle of the national pack.
We find ourselves slipping a bit deeper into a Buyers' Market in December. Average days on market is 65, (over 60 signifies a Buyers' Market). This is a good time and a good time of year to be a Buyer - if you're a Seller, proper pricing is critical. Not being priced on market is a recipe for frustration.



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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