EDMONTON – Edmonton home sales surged in August by 18.6 per cent over the same month last year as the average price of a single-family detached house fell to its lowest level in 18 months, monthly statistics released Wednesday show.
Marc Perras, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, said the figures confirm what he’s experienced in his own real estate office.
“I’ve been run off my feet,” Perras said. “July was ridiculously busy and August has been ridiculously busy, and when it shows in the numbers, it’s not just me.”
It’s the second consecutive month that sales outperformed the same period last year.
New entries on the Multiple Listing Service also fell for the month compared to last year by 889 properties. It’s the first time since March that MLS homes for sale have dropped below 10,000.
There were 9,612 residential properties in the inventory on Aug. 31, compared with 10,501 at the beginning of the month.
“The stats show buyers are confident with the Edmonton economy. It’s a large selection to pick from right now, and I think they don’t foresee a drastic dropping of prices, so they want to get into the marketplace and buy.
“By the time we get through to next spring, we’re going to have a far more reasonable listing inventory and we’re going to have a far more balanced marketplace,” Perras said.
Richard Goatcher, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. senior market analyst for Edmonton, agreed the current buyers’ market is moving toward a balanced one, and that’s motivating
last year’s fence-sitters as selection slips and prices dip but remain relatively steady.
“For buyers, it’s not going to get any better than it is right now because of the supply, which is going to start to dwindle away,” Goatcher said.
“The buyers’ market will give way to more of a balanced market over the winter as supply gets reduced but sales remain fairly firm.”
Average MLS prices for all types of homes were down slightly in August from the previous month.
Single-family homes dipped 2.65 per cent to $369,190 — the lowest price in 18 months.
Compared to August 2007, single-family dwellings are down 8.56 per cent. The median selling price was $352,500, down about seven per cent year-over-year.
Condo prices inched down 1.1 per cent to $251,048 in August after sliding 3.25 per cent in July. Compared to
August 2007, they have dropped 6.72 per cent.
Duplex and row-house prices also showed stability, dropping less than half a per cent from the previous month.
The average residential price of all types of homes was $329,207.
That’s down 1.8 per cent from the previous month and down 4.52 per cent year-over-year.
Still, the value of total MLS sales for August was $574 million, up nearly three per cent from August 2007.
Despite a pickup in sales, days on market rose to 63 from 55. In 2007, days on market for August was 36 and in 2006, it was 20.
Perras said he believed the slippage in home prices will soon reverse.
“Housing prices typically rise slightly through the fall,” Perras said. “We expect that the strong sales this quarter will support rising prices as we approach year-end.”
Meanwhile, new-home sales are still straggling well behind resales.
“New-home sales are down dramatically partially because of the wide selection of homes available through the MLS, but buyers are demonstrating their confidence in this market and are not afraid to purchase.”
Single-detached houses started in Edmonton will drop by 57.7 per cent to 3,250 homes, compared to the 7,682 built last year, said a third-quarter housing-market outlook released by CMHC.
Lagging sales forced at least one builder, Jayman MasterBuilt to lay off 20 workers in Edmonton and 30 in Calgary last month. Company president Jay Westman predicted new-home sales will pick up when the large stock of resales shrinks.
Source – The Edmonton Journal
