Edmonton housing market to remain unstable for some time - analyst

Home sale prices to remain static, and local economy is forecast to slow down in 2017

Edmonton housing market to remain unstable for some time - analyst
While stable employment numbers and infrastructure activity have helped Edmonton weather the worst possible effects of Alberta’s economic crash, the city’s housing market is not poised to make a full recovery any time soon, according to an industry observer.
 
Real Estate Investment Network markets specialist Don Campbell said on Tuesday (January 17) that much of the construction carry-over projects from the previous years have been finished, which might trigger an economic slowdown that will prove disastrous for a real estate market still trying to find back its bearings.
 
“I'm already seeing vacancy rates increasing and rents dropping slightly,” Campbell wrote in his analysis, as quoted by the Edmonton Sun.
 
“In residential housing, supply is starting to creep up, which is another indicator that right now sellers haven't come to the reality that the market is slowing down, so they haven't dropped prices much (and) buyers are sitting on their hands.”
 
As a result, Edmonton home sale prices might remain static this year—still relatively better than the situation in Calgary (which is projected to post a 4 per cent decline in 2017), but no reason for Edmonton to rest on its laurels.
 
“It will feel more fearful because the slowdown will be on in Calgary. They're 18 months into it already … This will be year one of that (in Edmonton).”
 
In its recent nationwide housing price survey, Royal LePage found that Edmonton residential real estate prices slipped by 2.1 per cent in the final quarter of 2016—the greatest year-over-year decline in sale prices throughout Canada.
 
The brokerage stated that the aggregate home value across all housing types in Edmonton fell to $378,247 in the quarter, down from $386,202 during the same period in the previous year.


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