Edmonton Real Estate Market Weekly Update – July 9, 2010

4 Responses to “Edmonton Real Estate Market Weekly Update – July 9, 2010”

1. James 09. Jul, 2010 at 5:52 pm #

   Even historic low mortgage rates can’t help this market.

   http://www.bankofcanada.ca/pdf/annual_page57_page58.pdf
2. Mick 10. Jul, 2010 at 3:07 pm #

   This trend of rising inventory and low sales but stagnant prices is indicative of a few things:

   1. Because they have assumed so much debt, sellers aren’t going to budge on price and lose money unless they are absolutely forced to do so. So the wait is on. With oil likely to remain in the current $70-$80 range for the next few yrs, Alberta’s economy is not likely to expand at the boom levels for a long time. What we see economically in terms of steady growth is what we’ll get at least for the next 2 yrs. Can sellers on the bubble wait that long?

   2. Speculation has played a great role in the market in Edmonton. A lof of speculators were individuals who had massive equity in their homes and who used that equity to speculate on RE in the 2006 boom. These individuals are going to cash out eventually but they prefer to wait for someone else to make the first move.

   3. Sara and Sheldon just recently pointed to the trend of upper scale homes selling at a higher rate despite the current market funk. Right there is a reason for price stagnation. As more upper end priced homes sell combined with falling sales of lower end and average priced homes we get price stagnation. The upgrading phenomenon is also to blame for the current situation as those who speculated by buying extra and multiple homes are putting on the market while upgrading to expensive homes.

   4. Baby boomers looking to downgrade are getting into the market in greater numbers.

   5. Because all the future buyers were consumed with the boom in 2009, there are no buyers left even with rock bottom interest rates.
3. DaBull 10. Jul, 2010 at 10:59 pm #

   1. Oil and gas just has to be high enough that projects go ahead and right now they are. Haven’t pretty well all the delayed projects been moved to the go ahead column again, plus there is even some new ones announced. Steady Ed’s royalties boondoggle has finally been rectified making natural gas and unconventional sources once again viable in Alberta.

   2. Speculators cashed out in 2007-2008. Wannabe speculators are the ones left holding the bag. Most, if not all, are now gone.

   3. What?

   4. So if baby boomers are downgrading, what are they down grading to? I think in comment #3 you stated that lower end and average priced real estate are stagnate. So I guess by that logic baby boomers must be down grading to a smaller higher price property???. That makes no sense, kinda defeats the purpose to down grading in the first place.

   5. Finally something I can agree with you on. But like in 2008, this will only last at most a year maybe two. Alberta has way to much growth in the pipeline for this slowdown to last long.

   So unless we have another recession or worse, things will only start getting better in good old Alberta. Plus it’s the only province with no provincial sales tax, no HST, no debt, has oil/gas royalties, land sales income, one of the lowest tax rates, etc, etc, etc.. Just think, we won’t be taxed to death or have to pay a bigger and bigger portion of revenue to service our bigger and bigger debt, well like the rest of the Provinces will have to in the future. And on that note, where do you think those Provinces will have to go to get that revenue? I can only see two sources of revenue for those Provinces; the taxpayer and business and neither is good for their economic future.
4. EDMONTON EXPAT 11. Jul, 2010 at 4:13 pm #

   Funny fact: Ontario & Quebec are best known as the morbid, yesteryears manufacturing sector. Yet they created the majority of last month’s 93,000 jobs…
   If we are really out of this recession, how come Alberta – the economic hotspot of Canada- did not create jobs?
   Any thoughts?