Edmonton Journal

Edmonton's luxury market offers top value among Canadian cities

- JOEL SCHLESINGE­R

Edmonton's resale market has long been comparativ­ely wellpriced to other major real estate markets in Canada, and luxury is no exception, a new report shows.

“If you look through the lens of other markets, you're asking yourself, `How are these (homes in Edmonton) so cheap?'” says John Carter, broker/owner of Re/Max River City. “They should be double the price.”

The recent Re/Max Canada's 2024 Spotlight on Luxury Report examined luxury sales in 10 Canadian markets in the first two months of 2024 versus January and February last year, finding rising activity in most major cities.

Edmonton, an often-overlooked luxury market, stood out among those metropolis­es seeing the largest increases with sales for homes $1 million or more growing 32 per cent year over year.

The percentage rise in activity is fourth highest among markets surveyed, trailing Saskatoon (57.1 per cent), Montreal (55.6 per cent) and Calgary (52 per cent).

Yet luxury in these cities begins at different price entry points. In Calgary, luxury now starts at $1.5 million, up from $1 million in recent years, reflecting strong growth in demand, low supply and fast-rising prices.

“Our wealth demographi­c here is a little bit larger and unique to Edmonton,” says Calgary realtor Mathew Said-Morley of Re/Max First, noting the city has more corporate headquarte­rs than Edmonton.

In turn, Calgary saw 76 sales in the first two months of this year, up from 50 sales at $1.5 million and higher. In Montreal, the study notes luxury for the city of more than four million people starts at $2.5 million, and in Saskatoon, the entry point is $700,000.

Growth in the Edmonton market is actually supported by its luxury market's relative affordabil­ity compared with other big cities like Toronto, Carter says.

“The big driver right now is actually Ontarians moving here.”

The report notes that Toronto's luxury market starts at $3 million, with sales in the first two months (167) up about 14 per cent year over year.

Yet the average price of a home in March in the Greater Toronto Area was about $1.12 million. One recent listing for nearly $1.1 million had six bedrooms and four bathrooms in a modest, decades-old bungalow with three of those bedrooms in a separate basement rental suite.

“You can still buy a single-family house in the $300,000 range,” Carter notes, indicating many bungalows in Edmonton list around that price point.

In contrast, a $1-million listing in Edmonton would be for a nearly 3,000-square-foot, two-storey single-family home built in 2012 with four bedrooms and four bathrooms and a finished basement.

“You get a lot of home and value for that price in Edmonton,” Carter says.

While out-of-province buyers with significan­t equity have helped fuel luxury sales, local buyers are jumping in now, seeing their current homes rise in value that provides them with the equity to make the move to a higher priced home.

“They're saying, `We better make the move as the homes we're interested in are getting snapped up,'” Carter says, noting this group is less sensitive to interest rates.

Demand is such now, amid low supply, that new builders are constructi­ng million-dollar homes on spec, he notes.

“It's a trend I've never seen in Edmonton before,” Carter says. “But they just can't keep up with the demand.”

 ?? GREG SOUTHAM ?? Luxury real estate in the Edmonton area is priced lower than in other major Canadian cities, according to Re/Max Canada's 2024 Spotlight on Luxury Report.
GREG SOUTHAM Luxury real estate in the Edmonton area is priced lower than in other major Canadian cities, according to Re/Max Canada's 2024 Spotlight on Luxury Report.

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