The numbers are out for the Edmonton real estate market for June 2008. You may remember back in April we predicted inventory would peak by June and it looks as though it may have peaked in May.
The number of new listings in June was down from May by 7% to 3985 which had more of an impact on inventory than the flat-lining sales:
Prices are also holding fairly steady at $341,376:
Single family home average prices dropped 0.5% while condo prices rose 0.5% over May, while single family homes are up .25% since the beginning of the year and condos are down 3%.
As you can see inventory remains above the normal levels for Edmonton, this means buyers have a lot to choose from and sellers have a lot of competition:
So I thought I’d throw in a new chart this month: Supply vs. Demand. A lot of people seem confused – how can prices be dropping when Alberta’s economy is so strong? Well it’s a simple story of supply vs demand, as you can see, thins are a little out of whack:
Both the absorption rate and the sales to new listings ratio suggest we are in a balanced market (the absorption rate is (5.8 months, which means if inventory and sales remained steady it would take 5.8 months to sell all the homes on the market):
The sales/new listing ratio historically drop off in late summer & fall… look for things to get worse this year before they get better.
Yup things should get worse. This backwards city is doomed. It takes 2 or less months of inventory for any sort of price gain here. Look at what it takes for Vancouver, Kelowna, Toronto etc.. 4 months sees 8% inflation, 6 months no growth, here we go down in price… That is a little ridiculus. Everybody is fleeing out of here. Where I don’t know. I’m trying to find the “better” deal and can not. Yeah there are cities with “cheaper” housing but after that crappy paying job if you can get one, less would be in my pocket. Where is the better deal? I’m ready to go. Somewhere where you don’t see $80k jacked up trucks, rv, quads, escalades, corvettes, etc. parked outside a crap shack of a house because it is all the redneck “can afford” after all his toys on his 100k+ a year job… Priorities here are out of whack…. So cheap when it comes to housing, but you’ll spend tons on a car or boat no problem…?
Amen cripes. A buddy of mine has a second property renting it out to a nice family. During his vacation, I had to take care of his tenants and went to collect the rent. In the driveway, they had a new truck (I would say worth 50K), a new RV (I would say worth another 50K), the garage was full 2 ATV’s and a snowmobile. The man of the house was a tradesperson and he was bragging about his toys and the money he makes as well as the boat he had in storage and that he needed to pick it up. Priorities are up side down in Edmonton.
Cripes
It’s call living life to it’s fullest, ie having fun. Don’t forget the mentality is “I started with nothing so if I end up with nothing I haven’t lost anything”. Also the average age in Alberta is the lowest in Canada at the moment, and with an overall younger age comes this type of mentality. Plus they can always start over they got lots of time (well they think anyway and it’s actually true). Don’t forget as much as you may want to, you can’t take it with you when you die.
PS: #1 commandment From the redneck creed!
***Who ever dies with the most toys WINS!!!.***
I also think that a lot of people have their priorities screwed up. But I don’t believe that every twenty something person should go out and buy a home. Buying and selling every few years is very expensive. Better to wait until you are settled in a job and community before buying. Instead of putting all that money into toys they should save enough to have a large down payment when they do make that big home purchase.
I remember feeling like I was missing the boat about two years ago at this time.
Now I feel vindicated as a debt free citizen living within my means and without a hyper-inflated mortgage to worry about.
Having a boat as a toy in Edmonton, now that’s a joke!
What slew of lake do you take it to. lol
I totally agree with you to some extent.
For instance, Edmonton-area lakes are indeed slews. I went fishing to Hassie Lake and it was absolutely disgusting. I don’t know how fish can survive.
But I digress,
I dont agree with your mentality that everyone in Edmonton has their priorities upside down.
I have a modest truck that is paid off and I am renting right now.
But I have also just recently purchased a new home for a steal of a deal. It will be ready by October.
By the time it’s ready, I would like to take on a few roomates to help pay the mortgage so I can save up for an investment property.
When the time comes, I beleive it will be economical to purchase an investment property for a good price, and pocket some decent monthly cashflow.
I am only 24 and I know the value of ‘equity’ and the depreciation of ‘toys’.
Just my 2 Cents (but I did move here from Calgary lol)