1729 residential MLS sales in Edmonton in September 2008.
Lets put that in perspective:
- Last September there were 1042 sales, it was the worst September in recent history
- Last month there were 1541 sales
- Sales typically drop from August to September
- 1141 single family homes sold this September, 1019 in August
- 477 condos sold this September, 427 in August
The average residential sale price is $324,905, down from $329,207 in August (1.3%). The average sale price of single family homes is $362,908, down from $369,190 in August. For condos the average sale price is $252,233, up from $251,048.
In other words, most of the action this month has been in single family homes – sales are up 11% while prices are down 2%. With all the condos under construction and just completed, many people are waiting for condo prices to drop…when/will it happen?
Putting prices in perspective, I find it helps to look at the average price per year:
Last, it may feel like a buyer’s market out there, but the sales to new listings ratio shows a balanced market, creeping slowly towards a seller’s market. However, I don’t think that trend will continue for long.
When the final inventory numbers come out in a couple of days I ‘ll have some more info for you!
so.. is this time to buy?
I’m a buyer and last thing I’d want is another seller’s market with multiple offers.
I’m a Realtor in Edmonton, and I can tell you that I’ve experienced 3 multiple offer situations in the past 3 weeks. This is something I haven’t seen in many months. The first was 2 offers on one of my listings. In the other 2 instances, I was on the other side, trying to help my buyer who was up against another competing offer (1 we won, and 1 we lost). And I can also tell you that listings I’ve had where there has been barely a trickle of activity are suddenly getting showings daily. I’ll leave it up to others to speculate on what that means for the future of Edmonton real estate, but just thought I’d offer my own personal experience.
conan
If you think it’s the right time to buy, then buy. If you don’t think it’s the right time, then wait. Only you can make that decision. This site and others can provide you with enough information to make your decision easier.
Sarah, Sheldon, can you run a survey on how people like the format of the new mls.ca site?
The search criteria and the map dominate the results page, and the pictures of available properties are relegated to a tiny strip to the right of the page.
How on earth can a ONE SQUARE INCH picture on a 17″ monitor be an effective marketing tool for my propery?
Whoever does not have a realtor with a great eye for photography has little chance for their property to stand out when viewers scroll down that strip.
I also have not figured out how to search for properties just in the limited areas I am interested in. The zoom ends up being either to wide or too narrow for what I am looking for.
The map portion of the page allows me to visually ignore listings. However, if I want to compare listings by price, I still have to sift through all the pictures, including those outside of the area I am interested in.
conan,
We have seen a consistent drop in price for over a year, are we at the bottom? Don’t know, but in the financial markets, Warren Buffet is buying up companies like they are going out of style.
I actually love the new mls site…I find it great to quickly narrow down to houses for sale in the area I am interested in, and to see the prices of houses in my own neighborhood (as we are looking at selling in the spring).
Lisa,
I like some of the map features, too, but searches based on postal codes alone are unreliable.
When you list your property, make sure there is no error when the postal code gets entered, otherwise your property will not get the visibility you expect, since it will show up in an area where your potential buyers may not be looking.
This morning, I checked out 3 listings shown on the map within the Edmonton city limits. All 3 were placed incorrectly!
The first one was a listing from TENNESSEE, USA, with an Edmonton postal code…. Total nuisance.
The second one showed up in Southeast Edmonton, but is really located 90 minutes away, in Brazeau County. It had a T0G postal code. Go figure why that showed up here. But it’s not showing up in Brazeau County, which is a shame for the vendor who will scratch his head wondering why there are no viewings!
The third one was a starter home from Alberta Avenue, on the northside, showing up in the much more expensive Southwest. Again, good luck for viewings.
The TSX dropped another 800 points today… I think a lot of Markets including Real Estate get a huge boost from how people and society in general are feeling at any time. I know I’m feeling a lot less wealthy, a lot less secure and a lot less confident these days and I think many people are as well. I think this will continue to be projected in the Real Estate market by declining prices, by people putting off buying move up homes and investment properties. I didn’t catch the whole story on Saskatchewan today but something to do with Pot Ash dropping 20 pcercent today was supposed to have a big negative impact on the Sask. economy/growth. Think we are in for a long winter.
Best of luck.
Sara, I’m curious about why you don’t think a sellers market will last for long. Care to elaborate?
In recent history, when people couldn’t rely on the stock market for returns, they’ve generally invested in bricks and mortar. That happened after the tech bubble burst in 2000. I think home prices in Edmonton are now a good buy considering our full employment, cost of new construction, and strong rental market. I’m hearing that new home builders have pared down their margins to next to nothing. I think we are either at or close to the bottom.
Fred,
I am with you.
Fortunately, my finances are structured such that I don’t feel a lot less wealthy, today. But I have to admit that I am not quite as motivated to trade up to a bigger home as I was, just a short while ago. And taking on additional investment properties is also no longer part of my plans, in the short-term, despite the improved pricing.
It seems that this is a time to be more conservative, rein in spending, and watch how the financial world and the markets evolve.
This attitude won’t help the economy, whose health depends a lot on consumer spending. But if the bottom is still to come, I might be in a good position to get back in, when things flatten out.
Just a comment on the new realtor.ca site. I think it is a very busy looking and confusing site. The Comfree site is much easier to navigate and quickly access the area and listings you want to see. I’m not sure why mls.ca would change formats after several years of sucess. I find the new site cumbersome and I’m sure if you don’t subscribe to high speed internet, it would take forever to load. Two thumbs down from me.
Mark Wells,
As a guess sales are higher then usual but are typically subject to a seasonal cycle. The first and last quarters of the year are typically slower.
My thoughts on the new MLS.
-The map is very nice. I find it very finicy moving over the red dots though. If you dont move your mouse over the panel on the right quick enough it dissapears (im on a laptop). If you miss it three subsiquent times the image thumbnails dont download.
-The map data is depending on Microsoft Live Maps. The GIS data feed comes from NAVTEQ and are refreshed every 2-3 years. The last refresh was september 2008 – before that point you couldnt see any of the west anthony henday. The whole service seems map centric so new neighborhoods may have trouble getting viewings if the GIS data doesnt have there street.
-The system seems to go offline for 30 minutes every once and a while.
-Sometimes the listings (red dots) dont show up on the map if you do to much at once.
I would have left both sites up at the same time.
Mark – the reason I think the trend won’t continue is:
The new listings to sales ration is affect both by the number of new listings, and the number of sales.
Seasonally, both new listings and sales tend to decrease at the end of the year.
When the new year begins, new listings start to increase before sales do, and generally at a faster rate.
I have spoken to many home owners who have decided to wait until next sring to try and sell…. This could mean more new listings than usual. So I expect the buyer’s market to return in the new year.
Hey Everyone,
A friend forwarded me this great study on the rental market in Edmonton, published by the Edmonton Social Planning Council.
http://www.edmontonsocialplanning.ca/images/stories/pdf/Not_Just_a_Roof_Over_our_Heads_Sep_2008.pdf
http://www.edmontonsocialplanning.ca/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=90&Itemid=56
Thanks MDM. My finances are “managed” by a financial planner, unfortunately they seem to take credit when times are good, are very slow to act,if act at all when things seem to slid, then when they do, its not there fault… Sorry just read an article on Alberta which has put me in more of a sour mood.
Is this how the scale tips, did it look this way for the housing in the US, for the beginning of the financial crisis. Is this (read the attached link) how it begins for us?
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/story.html?id=28ace560-b27d-4584-a752-e569988d9195
MLS listing E3162683 just became a victim of the new MLS site…..
If you search for listings in Edmonton and area between 1,000K – 1,500K, E3162683 should show up, but doesn’t.
If you use the Advanced search feature and type in the postal code, the listing shows up.
Not sure how happy the vendor is with the quality of this marketing tool!
By the way, regardless of the size of your computer screen, the picture of a listed property will only occupy LESS THAN 1 PERCENT of the result page (0.69% to be precise).
On a laptop screen, the picture is 0.375 square inches “large”.
If you are trying to sell a house between 400-500K, in Edmonton and area, you are competing with 948 properties.
How many of these almost invisible thumbnails do we expect prospective buyers to enlarge, especially when they use a laptop and experience the problems buff_butler describes ?
Ok guys….Sheldon and I have no control over the realtor.ca web site. If you have an issue with it you can report it to them at info@crea.ca. This discussion has nothing to do with the article so please give it a break.
My apologies, Sara. I had hoped we could discuss the MLS topic on this blog, because the Canadian Real Estate Board squarely put the blame on local realtors for many of the website problems I pointed out to them.