City shifting to `balanced' real estate market with more choices: realtor

Edmonton's real estate scene remained busy in April with a shift toward a more “balanced” market.

Paul Gravelle, chair of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, said April was another “strong month” for real estate in the greater Edmonton area, but there is now less competition between buyers.

“We're seeing more and more listings coming on, which is giving the buyers more options out there,” said Gravelle.

“We sold 2,919 homes last month and listed 4,719. So, we're now having more inventory than sales, which reflects back into more of a balanced market right now.”

The greater Edmonton area saw total residential unit sales decrease by 10.9 per cent compared to March 2022, however, it was an increase of two per cent from the previous year.

Condo unit sales saw the largest year-over-year increase with a 26.6-per-cent jump from April 2021. However, they were down 7.2 per cent from the previous month.

“With the rise in interest rates and home prices, we're seeing people that maybe have been slightly priced out of the housing market and so they're making alternative decisions in the product that they're buying,” said Gravelle.

“Also, we have those baby boomers who have sold some of their bigger homes and have moved into more of a lifestyle management-style product, which would be a condo, so they don't have to worry about cutting grass and they can just go and live their nice retired lifestyle.”

Single-family home sales in the area saw a 6.3-per-cent drop in sales from last April and an 11.3-per-cent drop from March 2022.

The average residential unit selling price in April was $510,988, an increase of 1.4 per cent from March and an 11-per-cent jump from April 2021. The median total residential selling price in April was $466,000.

“We're still one of the most, if not the most, affordable place in

Canada,” said Gravelle.

“We like to believe that we're the most affordable, but we're still very affordable for investors and first-time homebuyers to try and get into that housing market.”

He added now is a good time to buy, with interest rates still “way below” what they historically have been and with more choice and less competition.

Residential listings averaged 31 days on the market, a decrease of six days compared to April 2021 and a decrease of three days from March.

Looking toward the rest of May, Gravelle said he expects another steady month for the region.

“It's the spring market still, there's still lots of buyers and there's lots of listings coming on, so there's some great choices to be had for buyers that we didn't didn't have, so now's the time to get out there and try to find what is working for you, or what you're looking for as a buyer,” he said.