Edmonton housing market having a landmark year: Royal LePage

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A hot summer housing market in Edmonton has led to a near two-decade low in the number of homes available.

In the latest Royal LePage report released Thursday, the real estate group is showing rising prices across the board for Edmonton homes, with aggregate prices up 1.3 per cent since last quarter and more than five per cent year-over-year.

The strong selling season, coupled with a lengthened push through the fall, has put the city on track for a near-record year, according to Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate broker-owner Tom Shearer. But the high sales are taking a toll on the city’s inventory.

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“Inventory remains very tight — among the lowest levels we’ve seen in nearly two decades,” said Shearer in the report.

“Edmonton’s real estate market is on track to have one of the most productive years on record. We had an extraordinarily busy summer.”

The increase in activity and the ever-decreasing inventory have put upward pressure on the price of Edmonton homes. According to the report, the median price of a single-family detached home in Edmonton is $498,000 in the third quarter of this year, up 5.7 per cent from the same time last year. Similarly, the median price of a condominium is up 3.1 per cent from last year, sitting at $201,000.

“What I really feel like is happening here in our market is the engine is firing on all cylinders,” said Shearer.

Whether it’s the starter home, luxury home, or condominium market, Shearer said they’re all seeing activity that is contributing to an overall lift in the market.

Homebuyers ‘have to act fast’

Shearer attributed the city’s busy housing activity to the volume of migration to Edmonton from elsewhere. Despite the rising prices, the city remains relatively affordable compared with other major cities in the country.

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For example, Calgary’s aggregate home price for the fourth quarter last year was $663,500 and is expected to jump to $716,580 in this year’s fourth quarter. Meanwhile, the forecasted national average for aggregate price for a home came in at $832,923. However, the national average is skewed by severely inflated markets like Toronto and Vancouver, which have forecasted aggregate home prices of $1,190,698 and $1,256,703, respectively.

Sitting firmly in a seller’s market, the rising prices in Edmonton may be welcomed by property owners, but Shearer warns it may not be as sunny for homebuyers.

“If you’re a buyer right now, and you find a property that you appreciate and want, you have to act fast,” he said.

While this report examined the third quarter and looked ahead to the fourth, Shearer is already thinking about next year, which he expects to be “hyper-competitive.”

“I sense that we aren’t going to have enough new product, and it’s going to be a competitive year,” said Shearer.

Shearer predicts the market will inevitably cool along with the weather heading into the fourth quarter, but if the summer offered any indication, it’s that this year’s market hasn’t followed normal trends.

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