Edmonton real estate hits all-time highs for sales, home prices – Edmonton Journal

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The Edmonton area resale real estate market continued its torrid pace in March, surpassing a very strong February, setting all-time records for sales and prices.

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“It’s been really good; the market is very strong, but we are still suffering from a lack of inventory,” says realtor Paul Gravelle, chair of the Realtors of Association of Edmonton, which released its March data this week.

Limited supply aside, total sales last month reached 3,283, surpassing an all-time record previously set in May 2007 at 2,839 sales.

Sales last month marked a nearly 35 per cent increase from the same month the previous year, and a jump of more than 45 per cent from February.

High demand also led to the average price for all homes — up by nearly six per cent, year over year — to reach a record high of $414,788.

The previous record had been just set in February at $401,390, RAE noted in a recent update.

Driving the market is demand for single-family homes, accounting for almost 60 per cent of all transactions in the Great Edmonton Area with 1,920 sales. That’s up from 1,584 for the same month last year.

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In turn, the average price hit an all-time high at $503,711, also surpassing the previous record set in February at $493,543.

Demand was also strong among other housing types, including the duplex/row housing segment.

“We’re seeing about a 93 per cent listings-to-sales ratio for those types of homes, selling almost every duplex or townhome as soon as it hits the market,” Gravelle says.

In March, for example, 472 duplexes and townhouses listed while 441 sales occurred. Sales for the segment also jumped significantly — up 54 per cent, year over year.

Average prices increased to $389,321 by nearly 12 per cent. That broke a previous price record set in October 2007 of $367,964.

The long-struggling condominium apartment segment also saw growing sales. In fact, it saw the largest percentage jump in sales, year over year, rising by 67 per cent. Consequently, its average price grew almost seven per cent to $245,070.

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The all-time high average price is $271,908 set in June 2007.

Although supply remains tight, March’s numbers were not without good news for would-be buyers.

“With the spring market upon us, we’re finally starting to see substantially more new listings,” Gravelle says.

Listings increased by almost 8 per cent over March 2021 to 4,298, well above historical average, though still below the record high of 4,982 listings set in June 2007.

Edmonton realtor John Carter says high demand is resulting in sellers receiving multiple offers, including from out-of-province house-hunters.

“With many multiple offers, we’re seeing a lot of Ontario or B.C. buyers coming away with the property,” says Carter, broker/owner of Re/Max River City.

While still a small share of the overall market, out-of-province buyers from more expensive markets are drawn to Edmonton because of its relatively low prices compared with British Columbia and central Ontario.

“The joke has been here that we’re a ‘Buy one, get one’ because the market is so affordable,” Carter adds.

Strong sales are likely to continue for the next two months with the spring market now well underway, Gravelle says.

“It’s going to have to slow down at some point,” he says. “But right now, there is no sign of it doing that.”