I stumbled upon something quite interesting this morning; as I was looking at the numbers, I noticed the average size of single family homes sold in Edmonton in November was up significantly. At 1538 square feet, the average size was the highest its been since I started keeping track in 2005. It jumped up nearly 100 square feet from 1453 square feet in October, and 1451 last November.
So of course my next step was to plot it on a chart, and I found a pretty steady increase in the average single family home size sold in Edmonton over the past 7 years. Then I added the average sale price of single family homes and found an interesting correlation: there is an inverse relationship between average price and size of homes sold when the market changes quickly. You can see during the run up in prices in ’06 & ’07 the average size of homes sold fell well below the trend line. This is because homes were less affordable, so people had to settle for smaller homes. Today we have greater affordability, and very low interest rates, making larger homes an option for more buyers.
Average single family home size and price in Edmonton
So, even though the average price of single family homes is on the rise (more about this in a minute) the average price per square foot is declining, so you can get more space for your buck (the average price/square foot was $256 for single family homes and $223 for condos). The story doesn’t end there though…
One of our associates, Cynthia Leal Chiang has noticed that the families she is working with that are buying larger homes are blended or multi-generational families that need lots of space. This is a trend we reported on in May 2011, as multi-generational homes are common in many parts of the world, and are expected to become more common in North America as we attract more immigrants.
Edmonton price per square foot
The average price of single family homes was $393,154 in Edmonton in November, up from $380k last month and $362k last November. The median sale price of single family homes was $363k up from $350k last month and $340k last year. The average price of condos was $233,190 in November, about the same as last month and up from $222k last year. The condo median was $222k, up from $218k last month and $208k last year.
Edmonton real estate prices
While prices and sizes were on the rise, the sales of single family homes in Edmonton were declining. There were 521 sales of single family homes in November, down from 557 last year but in the normal range for this time of year.
Edmonton single family home sales
Although condo sales were up from last year, they were slightly below average. 284 condos sold in Edmonton in November, compared to 242 last year.
Edmonton condo sales
As always this is our preliminary report on the Edmonton real estate market, our final monthly report on the greater Edmonton area will be posted when the numbers are released by the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton.
About Sara MacLennan
Sara MacLennan is the Director of Marketing at Liv Real Estate and a licensed Real Estate Associate. The bulk of Sara’s experience and wealth of expertise lies in on-line technology and marketing both for agents and consumers. Sara is the former National Director for Interactive Marketing for Coldwell Banker Canada where she was responsible for an extensive training program traveling to offices across the country training agents and brokers on marketing and technology. Find Sara on Twitter @edmontonblogger.
Client Testimonial for Justin Tazi
Client Testimonial for Bill Bhamra
Client Testimonial for Mira Wannous
Client Testimonial for Nathan Mol 
Client Testimonial for Nathan Mol 
Client Testimonial for Travis Dochuk
Client Testimonial for Beverley Hasinoff
Client Testimonial for Beverley Hasinoff
Client Testimonial for Richard Widynowski
Client Testimonial for Bill Bhamra
Client Testimonial for Mira Wannous
Client Testimonial for Beverley Hasinoff
Client Testimonial for Richard Widynowski
Client Testimonial for Justin Tazi
Client Testimonial for Sheldon Johnston
Client Testimonial for Bill Bhamra
Client Testimonial for Tracy Vipond
Client Testimonial for Justin Tazi
Client Testimonial for Nathan Mol 
Client Testimonial for Bill Bhamra
“So, even though the average price of single family homes is on the rise (more about this in a minute) the average price per square foot is declining”
You didn’t list the compared numbers. But according to Bob Truman’s site, the price per sf went up from $258 to $263, which is a 2% YOY increase.
Sorry… the average price per square foot for single family homes was $256 in November, down from $261 last month but up from $249 last year.
That’s a 2.8% price increase. Very health.
Very insightful sara!
cmhc predicts housing to slow next year. I kind of agree with what they say. i dont think prices will drop too much. I also don’t think they will increase all to much.
My understanding was that CMHC predicts housing construction to slow in Edmonton, which is a direct contradiction to a PwC report: link to edmontonrealestateblog.com. From the CMHC report: “Sales in 2013 are expected to grow, but at a slower pace, to 18,500 units.” The Edmonton Journal put a bad headline on that article…
I agree that prices will decline in Vancouver and Toronto, which are overheated markets.
Edmonton is not an overheated market, not at all. Edmonton prices will increase at a modest pace, just as they have in the last few years – in my opinion.
Great post. your article content is unique and informative. i like it. thanks for sharing.