Edmonton Real Estate Market Weekly Update – June 22/12

19 Responses to “Edmonton Real Estate Market Weekly Update – June 22/12”

1. 

   Marcela 22. Jun, 2012 at 11:41 am #

   In a previous post you wrote that “The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton is reporting 799 sales for the Greater Edmonton Area so far this month, which should put us around 1800 for the month (below average for June). I’m a little surprised to see things slow down this month after a pretty strong May.” (link to edmontonrealestateblog.com)

   Now, you wrote in this post “1800-1900 sales for the month (similar to last year).”

   The question is What is the average (normal) for June sales in Edmonton?

   Thanks for the answer.
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     Sara MacLennan 22. Jun, 2012 at 11:51 am #

     Roughly 1800-2150.
2. 

   Louis 27. Jun, 2012 at 11:59 am #

   The real estate market in Edmonton, and the whole of Alberta looks very promising! Investors should buy now in my opinion to capture the appreciation potential
3. 

   market blues 27. Jun, 2012 at 3:49 pm #

   Absolutley. Buy now. I enourage everyone to empty there wallets and work the banks to give them the maximum mortage they can get. Notice that this only goes back to 2010 where oil etc. started picking up. Great over view. I can’t predict the future or what will happen to the market. But i do know that the market is still very over valued, and i think the government knows this too. As they are statring to get stricter in what requirments are needed in order to qualify for home buyers. It’s people like you that make on the spur decisions that crumble yours and everyone’s quality of life. What can’t you people understand about what happened back in the actual boom back in 06 will not happen again. Not for some time. until wages and everything else catches up to the current insane price of houses, houses can’t move up much more too quickly. Most people are struggling as it is. I love how greedy people & contractors, & real estate agents are with house prices and trying to rip as much money off someone as possible. New houses aren’t even built standard quality like the older houses. I know a few people who are real estate agents that i am friends with, so they will not lie to me. They all say that unless they currently own a house and can 100% have it sell, that they would not buy anything at the current state of the market. They all say the same thing. But of course if you find a agent to buy or sell a house they most likely are not going to tell you really what they think or may or may not be true. They are there to make money off you and the other party period. I can’t believe how much junk people believe from media etc.
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     Shawn 28. Jun, 2012 at 1:16 am #

     This is an average example of a rhetorical attempt at persuasion. It is not bad, but weak on analysis of fact, which is critical to the rhetorical author’s statements.

     Edmonton is just fine and will be for many factual reasons, and through frame of reference comparisons to other economies and locations throughout Canada.

     Formulas that take into account all the variables have been proven in economics….we will have moderate growth for 5 years as seen before and as will be seen. Furthermore, impending mortgage limitations will not stunt this too much.
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       Marcela 28. Jun, 2012 at 10:20 am #

       It is interesting that now my comments need moderation because I have a different perspective…..
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         Sheldon Johnston 28. Jun, 2012 at 12:33 pm #

         check out our code of conduct. I don’t think you have that different of perspective. Its how you present your ideas that count. In addition if you include links they must be approved. We get a horrific amount of spam.
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     wsn 28. Jun, 2012 at 9:18 am #

     @market blues:

     1) The government is indeed getting stricter with mortgages. But the target is Toronto and Vancouver. Both cities went up at least 50% since 2008. Edmonton was basically flat. What went up, may come down. What didn’t go up, has a smaller chance of coming down.

     2) New houses are built far better than the old ones. If you compare a 300k new house with a house costing 300k in 1980, you may say the latter one is better. But that’s not a fair comparison. If you had any education background, you should know that 300k in 1980 is very different in value from 300k in 2012. You better compare that 1980 house to a 1.2M house in 2012, and I assure you the new house is built with far better design, material and process.

     3) What your real estate friends told you may not be correct. Yes, they are in the trade. But that’s a trade that only requires 4 months’ worth of training, and a high school diploma. There are good ones, very good ones, but most have below average analytical capabilites. Even high level executives in Nortel and RIM couldn’t see the trend and bought their own stocks while they were falling, I wouldn’t put too much trust in those so called insiders.
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       Sheldon Johnston 28. Jun, 2012 at 12:40 pm #

       I would agree with your first comment. The changes will have an impact but in my opinion these are tweaks and not a massive overhaul. I also agree with your second comment but all things being equal its how fast homes are built and the level of oversight that creates the real quality control issues. Rhe technology and materials for the most part are superior on comparable homes today but I’m still impressed with some of the 60′s bungalows, Hard to beat 2×10 fir joists.
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         DaBull 28. Jun, 2012 at 3:35 pm #

         I would rather have an engineered joist any day. Not only do they allow for longer spans, but they have a much higher linear dead load capability.

         I agree with you when it comes to building though. It’s not the materials, because they are much better these days, it’s workmanship that’s is lacking. Most builders don’t keep up with the new building technology and try and build a house using old stick frame methods, but use new engineered products. That doesn’t work.

         Also those 60′s bungalows were built on good dry land with a good base, not some filled in swamp like most houses in Millwoods and a lot of areas built since the late 70′s have been.
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           Sheldon Johnston 28. Jun, 2012 at 3:55 pm #

           only if the engineered joists are properly installed. I have seen a disturbing number of them with cuts in to the base which I’ve been told drastically reduces their load capability.
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     Sheldon Johnston 28. Jun, 2012 at 12:47 pm #

     I guess we run in different circles. its interesting that you say real estate agents try to rip off people and yet in the same breath you are friends with 3 or 4 of them. What does that say about you? heresay is simply that. I can tell you that my experience in the market this past year doesn’t support what you are saying. I know a number of agent who have bought properties and we are certainly on the look out for stuff that matches our criteria.
4. 

   Marcela 28. Jun, 2012 at 6:51 am #

   I agree with you market blues. I am following the Edmonton Real Estate Market since 2010, and the situation is changing. I’ve seen that prices are dropping in Edmonton South West.

   In addition, I am receiving emails and phone calls of the houses that I have visited this summer letting me know that I can make offers, and they are willing to consider them. When I was looking for houses in the summer of 2010 and 2011, I didn’t receive emails and phone calls. That is an indication that you have less buyers in the market and more houses that are competing among each other. Probably, the prices will not change dramatically like in the USA, but there will be a correction for sure (10-15% is my guess).

   I’ve seen that many blogs relies on “new immigrants” for showing that the market will continue hot; nevertheless, they come first to rent, and then to buy. Also, they don’t come with a lot of money, they come to make money, and that takes about 3-4 years in order to make savings for a house. Moreover, the rental market is hot now in Edmonton and Calgary (indications that more people are renting then buying), but not in Fort McMurray because companies are using work camps (link to edmontonjournal.com).

   In addition, Alberta is the province that has the higher household debt, with an average of $157,700 (link to huffingtonpost.ca).

   If you add to the household debt that the oil price is going down, then you have less disposable income….less spending…..and so on….
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     tonto 28. Jun, 2012 at 3:01 pm #

     I bought my house in the South West in October of 2009 for 300,000.00. 1990 built double garage, 1200sq/ft bi-level with a large lot. My neighbor just sold his similar home for 354,500.00. Prices in the SW are not going down they are going up.
5. 

   A commong guy 28. Jun, 2012 at 8:41 am #

   It is interesting how these fear mongering people scream at others that it’s a bubble here in Alberta and it is going to crash.
   It’s not going to be like 2006, the correction that happened following that was due and the market is now mostly stable. I predicted that we’ll see a moderate (5% or so) increase this year and that has already happened. I think we will have moderate (normal) growth over the next few years and these new mortgage rules aren’t going to change things significantly (as the previous changes didn’t have a huge impact).
   So it’s not going to be growing 20% nor it is going to go down 20%.
   • 

     Marcela 28. Jun, 2012 at 3:30 pm #

     It depends on the market segment. I have been looking in the segment 650,000 to 950,000, and over 2100 sqf. I have seen in that segment drop in prices in Magrath, Windermere, Leger and Blue Quill (just to name some areas). You can do your search on Google by address, and it will show the original price and the original MLS number (you have to click cached).
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       Sheldon Johnston 28. Jun, 2012 at 3:47 pm #

       You are both correct in that it depends on the property type and price range.
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       wsn 28. Jun, 2012 at 4:14 pm #

       There is a difference between “listing price of a property has been reduced” vs. “transaction price of similar properties has seen a decrease”.

       I currently live in the Windermere area. What you said can’t be further away from truth. A couple of properties that back onto Washburn has just been sold at $700k~ish within two months of initial listing. Consider that they are 2500~2600sf, and backing onto a busy road, there is a definite increase in prices vs. two years ago.
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       GM 29. Jun, 2012 at 1:19 am #

       I searched an address on Google and there is nothing about the original price or original MLS number.