Last week "Heidi" asked: "When is the best time to buy a home in Edmonton?" We regularly get questions on our blog that Sara says I should turn into a blog post, because there are probably more people wondering about the answer to that same question. I try to respond to all the serious questions posted in the comments but sometimes I'm just not able to answer every question.
So, the real answer to Heidi’s question depends on the reason you are buying a home. Is it purely an investment or is it a home to live in? I'll assume that you are asking about buying a home. If you'd asked me that question before 2005 I'd have answered "September, last two weeks of December and first two weeks of January are generally great times to buy in Edmonton."
However, since 2006 the typical trends have been off kilter and predicting just about anything has been almost impossible. The best time to buy is still when you have low personal debt, and income that is increasing and stable. These should be your primary considerations. You should always consider real estate a long term decision and purchase sometime you will be happy living in for a long time.
Alternatively if you are looking for a condo it is still a bit of a buyers market in Edmonton (meaning there are more condos for sale than buyers looking to buy one). If you’re after a single family home under $500,000, demand is reasonably strong and inventory is fairly low making it more of a sellers market – much more of a seller's market than we typically see at this time of year.
