Edmonton real estate market remains strong through February - Edmonton Journal

In the greater Edmonton area, real estate transactions “nearly doubled” last month compared to a “normal February,” according to the Realtors Association of Edmonton. Photo by Gavin Young, File /Postmedia

Edmonton’s real estate market showed strong momentum last month, with business doubling compared to a “normal February.”

Tom Shearer, past chair of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, said there were 2,200 total transactions last month, when there is typically around 1,000 transactions. Total residential unit sales in the area are up 41.7 per cent from a year ago.

“I sincerely believe that Edmonton, the greater Edmonton region, is at the beginning of a nice cycle,” said Shearer. “You never know how long a cycle’s going to last, or what the high point is going to be, but I do feel like we’re at the beginning of a strong period.”

The average price of a single-family home hit a record high last month, coming in at $493,543 — a 12.7 per cent year-over-year increase. Single-family homes spent an average of 42 days, five less than last February, on the market with 35.6 per cent more units being sold.

Shearer said the increase in price is in part due to two dozen $1 million-plus homes sold in February.

“In Edmonton we’re lucky if we see more than 20 houses sell over $1 million,” in any given month, he said. “It’s not a common occurrence.”

Condominium sales in the greater Edmonton area saw a massive increase this February, with a 55.2 per cent sale increase from the year before. While condos flew off the market last month, they sold for 1.8 per cent less, at an average of $226,811.

Shearer said a strong February is not an every-year occurrence and the sales this February are similar to spring months, where the real estate market is typically busy.

With momentum carrying into 2022, Shearer identified two buying groups that have made their way into the Edmonton market and another group that he believes is on its way.

Shearer said local people looking to buy their first home or looking to buy a bigger house were the main source of activity in 2020 and 2021.

In the last couple of months, he said some out-of-town buyers with extra equity in their home have decided to buy an investment property in Edmonton, which hasn’t happened in a long time. Shearer pointed to the affordability of the city, its stable market and the upside of buying in Edmonton right now as reasons for the increase of sales from this group of buyers.

Now, Shearer has his sights on another group of buyers entering the local real estate market.

“People from outside Alberta deciding to move here because they see a good job opportunity, or they feel like their quality of life would be better if they moved here and that group of people hasn’t come yet, but I see that coming some time in the next year or two,” he said.

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