Sales in the Greater Edmonton area are once again well below the levels seen during the pandemic but well ahead of pre-pandemic levels. If you don't include 2021 and 2022, there were more sales in April 2023 than there were in at least 15 years. The demand is a bit surprising when you consider interest rates are higher than we've seen in years. Lucky for us, we have plenty of new listings coming on the market, while in Calgary, inventory is extremely low, and prices have hit an all-time high. Our inventory is still below normal for this time of year, and for the second month in a row, we find ourselves in a seller's market with a 3.4-month supply of listings.


City of Edmonton Stats

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When you compare the current real estate market in the Greater Edmonton Area to 2022, or 2021, things look pretty bleak - sales are down 44% from last March, prices are down 8%, and inventory is up 20% - but when you take a look at the bigger picture, 2023 is looking like one of the best years in at least a decade. Have a look at the charts below, and you'll see what I mean. 

Meanwhile, in Calgary, inventory is at its lowest level for March since 2006!

According to CREB® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie, “The challenge has been centred around supply. As a result, existing homeowners may be reluctant to list as they struggle to find an acceptable housing alternative in this market. At the same time, higher lending rates can also reduce the incentives…

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This is one of those times when the stats don't seem to match what is happening in reality. Yesterday, our brokerage held our first-ever "Liv Better Day": where we learned a ton, celebrated our award winners (we give out awards for customer service excellence, leadership, community involvement and teamwork, not sales), and ended the day with a charity challenge where we gave away $4500 to local charities. I had a chance to discuss the market with a lot of our agents, and the stories I kept hearing were of multiple offers. Well priced, well marketed listings are getting a lot of interest from buyers in the Edmonton area. 

When you glance at the numbers below, they seem to suggest the market is slow. But really, we're comparing what has started off as a…

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My analysis of the Edmonton real estate market shows that things have normalized in January. Sales of single-family homes and condos dropped below what we've seen for the past two years but above the levels seen for the previous 7 years. Strong fundamentals are keeping sales above average in Edmonton, even with higher mortgage rates than we've become accustomed to over the past few years. Between July and September, Alberta saw the largest net gain from interprovincial migration since 1980, adding more than 19,000 people. The vacancy rate is low, and rents are on the rise. We are currently working with buyers that are choosing to move for a variety of reasons - out-of-towners, first-time buyers that finally found something they like, homeowners running…

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The greater Edmonton area real estate market remains in a balanced state. The benchmark price has remained remarkably stable, declining just less than 1%, while sales dropped 30% compared to last year. Sales are still slightly higher than they usually are at this time of year and higher than we saw before the pandemic. Inventory has risen 10% over last year but remains in the normal range. 


City of Edmonton Stats

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In October, the benchmark price for single-family homes in the Greater Edmonton Area dropped back to where it was about a year ago ($429,100 is down 0.3% from last October). Sales have cooled off to pre-pandemic levels in the Edmonton area, but the market hasn't cooled off nearly as much as in other parts of the country. The Calgary market is seeing a similar pullback in sales, while their prices are still higher than last year - detached homes in Calgary are nearly 12% higher than last October.  CREB® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie summed it up perfectly: 

“Calgary hasn’t seen the same degree of pullback in housing sales like other parts of Canada, thanks to persistently strong demand for our higher density product. While our city is not immune to…

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According to a report released earlier this week, Alberta saw the largest net gain in population in the second quarter of 2022 since 2014, and it was the fourth quarter in a row with positive net migration. The majority of newcomers came from Ontario - over 6,200 more people moved to Alberta from Ontario than the other way around in the second quarter. Many of our clients moving from Ontario said housing costs were a big part of their decision to move to Alberta this year, some could work remotely, but most were excited about new opportunities in Alberta. 

Demand for more affordably priced homes was up in Edmonton and Calgary. Liv Real Estate agent Nathan Mol pointed out in the Edmonton Journal: 

"The local market is short on supply for affordably…

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Sales definitely cooled off in July in the Edmonton area; single-family sales were down 3% from last July and 28% from last month, taking us back to slightly below the normal level of sales for this time of year. The average price of single-family homes increased 8.4% from last year, and the median price was up 7.4% to $437,950. I'll update this post later this week when the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton releases their monthly report on the housing market. We are now officially a balanced market for the first time since January 2021. Home sales are still up ever so slightly from last July but down 24% from last month. The cumulative days on the market have increased by 8 days, so sellers should expect their homes to sit on the market longer. Marketing…

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The real estate market in Edmonton is a tale of two-time frames; when we look at the stats year over year things look very good, but compared to just a few months ago, things have really slowed down. This, of course, is actually good news because overheated markets are not good in the long run. Interestingly, Calgary sales are down about 2% from last year, while my preliminary look at the market shows sales of single-family homes and condos are still up in Edmonton (13% and 18%, respectively). 

“As expected, higher interest rates are starting to have an impact on home sales. This is helping shift the market toward more balanced conditions and taking some of the pressure off prices,” said CREB® Chief Economist Ann-Marie Lurie. “While we are starting to…

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Sales have come down from the record-high levels earlier this year, but they are still up from last year. The Bank of Canada announced another 50 basis point rate hike last week and warned of another one to come, to rein in inflation. You may recall, earlier in the year, I shared opinions from economists that said the housing market can withstand rate hikes if they are in small increments (ie 25 basis points at a time). Today's hike was the second 50 basis point hike so far this year and will further reduce demand. Meanwhile, listings continue to come on the market well above normal levels causing inventory to climb from well below normal to a more typical level for this time of year. We're still in a seller's market, but I don't expect that to continue…

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