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Houses in Winnipeg are on the move, with increases in both month-over-month and year-over-year sales, the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board announced Wednesday.

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The board reported sales of 1,419 in April, an increase of 27% compared to March and 29% over April 2023. There were 3,827 listings in all categories on MLS in April which marks a 7% increase over the previous year and sales reached $561 million which is up 41%.

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Residential-detached home sales were up 30% with 985 sales and an average price of $436,535 an increase of 7% from April 2023.

“For the first time since June of 2022 and after a 21-month trend, all MLS sales in the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board’s region rose above the five-year average,” said Daphne Shepherd, 2024-’25 President of the Winnipeg Regional Real Estate Board. “This represents the third-best April on record and narrowly misses the second-best April in 2022, by 35 sales.

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“Aside from a decrease in active condominium listings, all three of the main property types of residential-detached, condominium and residential-attached homes were at or above last year and the five-year averages for active listings, new listings, MLS sales, dollar volume and average prices.”

The board reported that year-to-date residential-detached MLS sales are up 17% to 2,668 when compared to the 2,276 seen through April 2023 with average prices up 8% to $418,284 from the $388,967 last year. Year-to-date residential-detached sales volume was up 26% to $1.1 billion compared to the $885 million seen through April of 2023.

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Selling a luxury home in Edmonton is often an exercise in patience. The city may be among the nation’s most affordable resale real estate markets, and luxury is no exception, says realtor Ron Dickson, senior vice-president of sales with Sotheby’s International Realty.

Yet it’s by no means a brisk market for high-end homes.

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“We are seeing activity (in luxury); we’re just not seeing the activity that other major markets are seeing,” he says, referring to Sotheby’s recently released Top-Tier Real Estate: Spring 2024 State of Luxury Report, tracking luxury resales in Canada’s largest cities.

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The report points to a recovery in sales in Toronto, Vancouver and Montreal with Calgary, again, expected to lead the nation for percentage sales growth.

“Single-family homes are a scarce commodity, and that’s why we’ve seen a big uptick year over year in places like Calgary,” says Don Kottick, president and chief executive officer of Sotheby’s International Realty Canada, in reference to Calgary luxury sales.

In the first three months of the year, Calgary saw 441 sales over $1 million, an increase of 63 per cent, the report states.

Notably, the study even mentions Edmonton briefly when referencing Alberta’s economy drawing migrants from larger cities.

Still Edmonton’s high-end market remains more sluggish than Calgary’s.

Realtors Association of Edmonton statistics show 14 sales of $1 million or more in the first three months 2024, down from 30 transactions in the same period last year.

The activity reflects how luxury sellers must be patient, Dickson says, adding he often reassures clients “they’re not being picked on, and not the only ones not getting a sale right away.”

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That said, the capital city is getting more attention from out-of-town buyers because, like Calgary, buyers’ dollars here purchase more luxury home. The Sotheby’s report alludes to this, given that it considers luxury home sales in Toronto and Vancouver starting at $4 million versus $1 million in Calgary.

And Edmonton’s luxury market is even more on sale than Calgary’s, Dickson notes.

“There are simply great deals with homes for sale that couldn’t be built for the price.”

Even for less than $1 million, Edmonton buyers are purchasing what would be considered luxury in larger cities, he adds.

Edmonton buyers, it seems, recognize the deal. RAE statistics for the first three months of the year show 883 sales in the $500,000 to $999,999 price range, an increase of 87 per cent from the same period last year.

And the $750,000 to $999,999 price segment for single-family detached homes experienced even stronger growth, up 98 per cent year over year.

“Single-family homes in that price range are just flying right now,” Dickson says.

Arguably, buyers are getting luxury in the under $1-million price range in Edmonton too. One recent listing in Blue Quill, for example, was a newly renovated, single-family detached home priced at $800,000 encompassing 2,348 square feet, including five bedrooms, four bathrooms, two ponds in the backyard and an outdoor hot-tub. By comparison, a similar sized home in Vancouver lists for about $2 million, and it’s a duplex.

Although selling a $1-million or more home can be a slog in the busy spring market, the luxury segment often heats up with the weather, Dickson says.

“Every year, luxury properties seem to sell in June, July and August.”

One reason is many move-up buyers from the active segment below $1 million are only able to make the jump to luxury after selling their home in the spring, Dickson explains. “So, for that reason, luxury sales in Edmonton really pick up in the summer months when other segments cool off.”

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