Reports of the impending burst of the so called “housing bubble” have homeowners looking closer at housing prices this month. While it makes for an exciting story, the numbers just don’t back up the claim. Edmonton Census Metropolitan Area (CMA) continues to see the stable market we have enjoyed over the past few years.
The steady gain year-over-year in housing prices is reflective of a stable and strong market. Average prices, listings, and sales are all up from September of last year. The average days on market for residential properties remained the same as August at 49 (down from 54 days the same time last year). While inventory is still down 6% from September 2013.
The average price for a single family dwelling (SFD) in the Edmonton CMA in September stayed strong at $435,584 (down a mere 0.04% from August). Condos were down 3% month over month at an average selling price of $254,494. Duplex/row house prices were up 0.3% to $350,983 and the total residential average price was up 0.8% from August at $372,673.
In September, 2,193 residential properties were listed and 1,568 were reported sold (1,693 adjusted) in the Edmonton CMA. Single family dwelling reported sales were up 4.7% from last month at 967 (1,044 adjusted) while condos were down 3.6% at 452 (488 adjusted).
“We normally see a decrease in sales and average price when fall arrives. The strong market we saw in August continued on into September with surprisingly little to no changes in prices.” said Greg Steele, President of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “There is a false idea out there that people only buy houses in the spring and summer. People buy and sell their houses when the time is right for them. Consulting with your local REALTOR® is the best way to see if the time is right for you.”
The number of homes listed for sale in September was 8% higher than the same month last year. The sales-to-listing ratio was 72%: up from 67% last month.
Highlights of MLS® System activity (for all-residential sales in Edmonton CMA1)
September 2014 | M/M % Change | Y/Y % Change | |
SFD2 average3 selling price – month | $435,584 | -0.04% | 6.92% |
SFD median4 selling price – month | $405,000 | 0.56% | 6.91% |
Condominium average selling price | $254,494 | -2.94% | 4.85% |
Condominium median selling price | $232,000 | 1.53% | 2.65% |
All-residential5 average selling price | $372,673 | 0.83% | 6.37% |
All-residential median selling price | $350,000 | 0.32% | 4.28% |
# residential listings this month | 2,193 | -4.74% | 8.08% |
# residential sales this month (reported) | 1,568 | -7.66% | 9.19% |
# residential inventory at month end | 4,812 | -9.79% | -5.85% |
# Total6 MLS® System sales this month | 2,122 | 4.17% | 6.47% |
$ Total value MLS® System residential sales - month | $668 million | 3.24% | 13.15% |
$ Total value MLS® System sales – month | $788 million | 4.95% | 13.67% |
$ Total value MLS® System sales – YTD | $7.6 billion | 12.82% | 16.05% |
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