Hot Prices Cool Listings

Edmonton's market is still hot but the listings are cooling down.

"Edmonton-area home prices resumed their ascent in November after a brief pause in October.
Average prices rose to $334,039 for detached houses, and $282,434 for all housing types.
Compared to one year earlier, those figures are up 47.7 per cent and 42.5 per cent, respectively."

"Weaknesses in the U.S. or eastern Canada housing sectors are not present in the Edmonton market......." Madeline Sarafinchan, president of the Edmonton Real Estate Board

The frenzy we saw over the summer is slowing down and as a result less than 15 per cent of last month's sales were sold for over the list price. A big drop from the 37% seen in July.

Listings are down 21 per cent and sales are also down 16.7 per cent from October. The demand is still strong in Edmonton so prices are bound to increase. Especially since 2007 will see the city with historically low levels of inventory. The market is going to heat up next year but not to the level we have seen in the last twelve months.

So what? If you buy in Edmonton now you will still have a lot of opportunity to buy properties that make sense as an investment.

Sure they will be on the market for a shorter time and there will be multiple offers but Edmonton is still the NUMBER 1 city to invest in in Alberta. The market still has a lot of room to grow at least 5 years as the Alberta Oil Sands Development is still poised to take off. High demand and low inventory always means price increases.