Russian Edmonton Real Estate

The residential home inventory on the Edmonton Multiple Listing Service® (MLS® System) rose 16% in January. Typically just over 1,800 homes in the Edmonton  come onto the market in January. Last month’s listings of 1,842 were higher than the 783 listed in December. Sales figures were higher than a typical January and higher than sales in December and January 2013. The increased inventory  kept prices stable in all housing categories.

Compared to December, the all-residential average3 price of $347,847 was down just $1,226 or
-0.16%. Single family detached (SFD) home prices were down 1.5% at $416,344. Condominiums were priced on average3 at $230,463 (down 1.5%) and duplex/rowhouses showed the biggest movement and were down 5.3% at $336,220.

Price stability and more property available for sale results in a balanced market.Right now both buyers and sellers have time to consider all their options and housing needs. More homes are listed every day and Irina Mierzewski your russian speaking REALTOR® can advise you of a suitable property as soon as it comes available.

The residential sales-to-listing ratio was 45% and the average days-on-market was 61 days in January compared to 73 days in January 2013. There have been four property sales over a $1 million already this year but half of the SFDs sold in January were sold at or below $385,000.

Strong economic indicators such as low unemployment, higher hourly wages and positive in-migration all support an optimistic view of the Edmonton and area housing market. Consumers are confident in their economic future and prepared to risk a first-time or move-up purchase. Low rental vacancies and the potential for higher rental rates are also attracting investors into the market.

Irina Mierzewski – your  russian/ukranian speaking REALTOR in Edmonton will be happy to answer all your questions and give her professional advise whether you sell or buy property in the near future.

The real issue is how much money you have and how much you’re prepared to spend in order to secure the house of your future.
If you are prepared to own two homes for an extended period of time, you could buy the new Canadian house and simply wait until you sell your primary residence.

But if you’re just waiting to find the right house so that you can retire, owning two homes could be a substantial setback to your plan. And if you can’t really afford to own the two houses at once, you might be better off making sure you have a buyer for your current home before trying to buy a home.

The problem is that you still might own these two homes for some time to come. To understand how much of a liability you face, you’ll have to do an indepth study of homes that have recently sold and those that are on the market.
You can do this by looking up the prices of homes that have closed. But if you are unsure of where the real estate market is in your area, just ask me to get my thoughts on the market and how to position your home for sale.

Since you may not have your home ready to sell for almost a year, the market today could be very different from the market next summer. If the real estate market in your area is better now, you might want to consider selling soon. If the real estate market in your area is poor now, it may or may not get better next summer.

Your decision to buy hinges on whether you can see into the future to determine where the real estate market might be. I do know that owning two homes and having the expenses for those two homes is a big burden to bear particularly when you are trying to retire and scale down your home and your way of life.

With the a later than expected arrival of spring, average prices for housing in the Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) decreased month-over-month in April after a surprising uptick in March. The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton reports that the all-residential price (including single family detached, condominiums, duplexes and row-houses) decreased 1.8% over March to $348,535. Compared to April 2012, the all-residential price was up 2.0%.

“The second quarter is the most active time of year for real estate sales,” said President Darrell Cook. “Both buyers and sellers want to complete the transaction before school starts in September and get settled into the new neighbourhood.” About 33% of annual sales happen in April, May, and June, while 25% occur in Q3 and 19% in the last three months of the year. In April, there were an estimated 1,645 (1,523 actual) total residential property sales through the Edmonton Multiple Listing Service® as compared to 1,656 (actual) in April 2012.

Estimated SFD sales of 1,037 units (960 actual) were down 4.4% from last year but condominium sales increased 4.1% year-over-year to 459 estimated sales (425 actual). There were 118 estimated sales of duplex/rowhouse properties (109 actual) in April (up 15.4% y/y). Sales numbers are estimated to account for late reported sales and provide meaningful comparison to previous year actual sales.

Market activity picked up in April according to both market activity indicators. The sales-to-listing ratio was up at 55% in April while days-on-market was down from 50 in March to 49 in April. Inventory continues to be relatively low with 5,294 residential properties of all types available on the MLS® System at the end of April. There were 2,769 residential properties listed for sale in April (up just 0.5% from April, 2012). “As many as 100 additional homes are listed everyday so motivated buyers need to maintain contact with their REALTOR® to ensure that they are notified the moment that a suitable property becomes available,” said Cook.

In April, the average price for a single family detached home was $402,270 (down 3.5% from March). The average priced condo sold for $243,503 (down 1.3% m/m) and duplex and rowhouses prices were up 2.8% to $324,975 on average. It is important to note that the average price encompasses all properties and can be driven upward by a higher than average number of expensive sales in any given month. Contact your REALTOR® to get an accurate evaluation of your home.

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MLS® System Activity (for all-residential sales in Edmonton CMA1)

April 2013 M/M % Change Y/Y % Change
SFD2 average3 selling price – month $402,270 -3.47% 2.88%
SFD median4 selling price – month $379,000 -0.26% 2.99%
Condominium average selling price $243,503 -1.25% 3.45%
Condominium median selling price $228,000 -0.65% 1.38%
All-residential5 average selling price $348,535 -1.75% 2.03%
All-residential median selling price $335,000 1.61% 2.29%
# residential listings this month 2,769 14.33% 0.47%
# residential sales this month 1,523 9.88% -8.03%
# residential inventory at month end 5,294 11.66% -12.35%
# Total6 MLS® System sales this month 2,014 10.54% -9.16%
$ Value Total residential sales this month $616 million 8.08% -6.20%
$ Value of total MLS® System sales – month $710 million 10.37% -7.06%
$ Value of total MLS® System sales – YTD $2.3 billion 10.24% -7.35%
1 Census Metropolitan Area (Edmonton and surrounding municipalities)
2 Single Family Dwelling
3 The total value of sales in a category divided by the number of properties sold
4 The middle figure in a list of all sales prices
5 Residential includes SFD, condos and duplex/row houses.
6 Includes residential, rural and commercial sales

Edmonton, November 2, 2012: Even with ghosts, ghouls, and goblins running through the streets, homeowners could find refuge in the local housing market. The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton reports that housing prices in October were up compared to a year ago and are the highest in October in the past five years. The all residential average price for the Edmonton Multiple Listing Service® was up 0.6% at $324,924 when compared to October 2011. The average price of a single family detached home was $372,061 up 2.1% over a year ago. Condos were priced on average at $234,177 which was an uptick of 1.8% from a month ago and up 5.4% from last October. Duplex/row house prices were down 1.1% Y/Y at $305,777.

Homesellers are pleased that their property may be worth more than it has been in the past five years but homebuyers can plan their financing in an environment of small, steady price increases. The housing market is be-deviled in other centres but here in Edmonton both buyers and sellers find it heavenly. The pace of sales is steady, prices increase year-over-year, there is sufficient inventory and average days-on-market is reasonable.

REALTORS® listed an average of 72 homes each day in October and sold an average of 44 per day. There were a total of 2,228 residential listings in October, with sales of 1,375 properties. As a result of lower listings and larger sales volumes, the month end residential inventory was down (-7.9%) from last month with 6,406 properties available. Days-on-market was an average of 61 and the sales to listing ratio was 62%. There was $447 million worth of residential property, $53 million of rural and $23 million of commercial property sold through the Edmonton MLS® in October.

Life happens to us all, unless you are an investor, the best time to buy or sell your home is when your lifestyle changes. No matter what your personal circumstances, Irina Mierzewski – your REALTOR® is here when life happens.