Edmonton home sale inventory at 10-year high
It's a good time to be looking to buy a home in Edmonton.
A new Royal LePage report says inventory levels are at a 10-year high across the city and home prices fell by 1.4 per cent since the same time last year.
"Right now more than ever in the last 10 years we have a great opportunity to get a great house at a really fair price," said Edmonton Royal LePage Noralta broker Tom Shearer.
According to the report, the aggregate home price in Edmonton is $377,218.
Condominiums had the largest decline, falling more than five per cent to $223,787 since the same quarter last year.
Edmonton market an "innocent bystander"
Shearer said the new federal mortgage stress-test rules meant to cool hotter markets in Toronto and Vancouver have slowed down the Edmonton market.
"Edmonton was an innocent bystander of the stress test," said Shearer.
"A lot of people who were investors or second time home buyers just couldn't get the financing they were able to before."
Shearer said there's a nearly $100,000 "expectation gap" between what sellers want for their homes and the number of financing buyers are qualifying for.
Home transactions in Edmonton have fallen about 10 per cent since last year, adding to the amount of inventory available in the city.
Shearer says Edmonton has a six-month supply of homes on the market right now.
"There are lots of opportunities to get the property you want and to be able to negotiate favourable terms if you're a buyer," he said, adding that sellers are settling for 4-5 % less than asking price.
"In stronger markets, sellers are able to negotiate within 1-2 per cent below what their asking price is."
Shearer says home improvement shows have made buyers more savvy, so it's up to sellers to be more competitive with asking prices, especially in this kind of market.
"The buyer isn't necessarily saving a ton of money in their purchase, but they're buying perhaps a better house than they could have picked up before," he said.
National uptick expected in Q3
Royal LePage is predicting the national home price will rise in the third quarter by about 1.9 per cent.
In Alberta, Shearer said it's unclear when the market trend will reverse.
"My feeling is we're going to remain relatively flat for the rest of the year," he said
"When you see migration start to turn back towards Alberta, I think that's when we'll see sales increase and have a busier marketplace."
