Breadcrumb Trail links
Residential home sales slow, with interest shifting from detached single family homes to duplex and row housing.
Residential unit sales dropped in the Greater Edmonton area, led by a decline in single family detached home sales, which are down 12 per cent year over year. Photo by David Bloom /Postmedia
Reviews and recommendations are unbiased and products are independently selected. Postmedia may earn an affiliate commission from purchases made through links on this page.
Article content
Sales are falling in Edmonton’s residential real estate market, but the sky isn’t, according to realtors, who point to higher borrowing costs affecting demand paired with a return to more seasonal conditions after a frenzy of activity earlier in the year.
Advertisement 2
This advertisement has not been loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
“There was definitely a big drop last month, and we haven’t seen that for some time,” says Paul Gravelle, chair of the Realtors Association of Edmonton.
Total residential sales for the Greater Edmonton area fell by nearly 24 per cent in July from June and were down more than 10 per cent year over year.
Leading the decline in activity were single-family detached home sales falling more than 24 per cent month over month and more than 12 per cent year over year.
To Gravelle, the change in activity was not surprising.
“The market can only go up so long,” he notes about records being broken for sales and prices earlier in the year.
“It has to plateau at some point, and we were seeing that occur over the last couple of months amid increasing interest rates.”
Advertisement 3
This advertisement has not been loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Still, home prices managed to climb from July last year, increasing about seven per cent to reach an average of about $411,000.
That said, prices did decline a little more than one per cent from June.
Single-family detached homes experienced the largest gain in average price up five per cent year-over-year to about $489,000, though down one per cent from June.
Condominium apartment prices declined by about four per cent year over year to about $229,000. Month over month, prices dropped about four per cent. Sales for condos also decreased about two per cent year over year and 22 per cent from June.
Duplex/row average prices increased by more than four per cent from July last year to nearly $373,000 — though down by almost four per cent from June. Like other segments, sales were also down about 13 per cent year over year and 21 per cent month over month.
Advertisement 4
This advertisement has not been loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
Local realtor Kathy Schmidt says the slowdown is notable, given the previous string of several months of unusually strong activity.
“The rapid rise in interest rates has absolutely had an impact,” says Schmidt, broker/owner of Schmidt Realty Group. Recently, “a potential sale … failed to proceed because previously approved buyers couldn’t qualify with the new rates.”
She further points to other conversations with buyers recently about their newly reduced purchasing power.
“They have the difficult decision to purchase at a lower price point they can afford now, or wait to save a larger down payment.”
For those in a position to buy, however, the current conditions are more favorable, Gravelle says.
“The buyers out there are getting more bang for their buck.”
Advertisement 5
This advertisement has not been loaded yet, but your article continues below.
Article content
In contrast, sellers must up their game to stand out amid rising new listings, up more than six per cent year to date.
That means a new “coat of paint for the kids’ room” or being more flexible with showing hours for their home, Gravelle adds.
“You don’t want to miss opportunities because buyers are now a little fewer and farther in between.”
Still, activity should pick up heading into the traditionally busy fall season.
“We’ll see people come back to the market where they want to get it done before the snow flies,” he says. “It’s the last big push for the year, so September and October should be pretty decent.”
Share this article on your social network
Advertisement 1
This advertisement has not been loaded yet, but your article continues below.
By clicking on the sign up button you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. You may unsubscribe any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link at the bottom of our emails. Postmedia Network Inc | 365 Bloor Street East, Toronto, Ontario, M4W 3L4 | 416-383-2300
Thanks for signing up!
Comments
Postmedia is committed to maintaining a lively but civil forum for discussion and encouraging all readers to share their views on our articles. Comments may take up to an hour for moderation before appearing on the site. We ask you to keep your comments relevant and respectful. We have enabled email notifications—you will now receive an email if you receive a reply to your comment, there is an update to a comment thread you follow or if a user you follow comments. Visit our Community Guidelines for more information and details on how to adjust your email settings.
Comments are closed.