CMHC Predicts End of Softening Prices for Edmonton Real Estate
Canada Mortgage and Housing (CMHC) is predicting that the the end may be in sight for softening Edmonton real estate prices. They estimate that the market will become increasingly balanced for buyers and sellers by the end of 2009 with a net decrease in the twelve month average price of 5.4% at the end of 2009. Prices are then forecast to increase in 2010, gaining 3.2% in 2010 over 2009. “Soft prices are causing people to wait – but at some point, they’ve got to say to themselves, ‘will it get any better than it is right now?’ because as the economy improves, mortgage rates go up.” Read the entire article. Edmonton Journal February 20, author Bill Mah
The Realtor Association of Edmonton (RAE) president Charlie Ponde reports that sales in February are already slightly up from January sales and we haven’t hit the end of the month yet! “As for sales, we are slightly up already in February from January sales and we have a good 10 days of market to go through… it seems like things are stabilizing.” As of February 20th the RAE has already reported 806 residential sales in Edmonton for the month. Considering there were only 730 sales in all of January, there is definitely a trend to higher activity in the market. The team at SCHMIDT agrees that the market is showing signs of improvement. Our team is very busy this month! First time buyers are especially active in the market, happy to take advantage of the affordability and choice in the market. Low interest rates and the new federal budget incentives are positive factors as well. 51% of sales so far this month have been under $300,000 and some well priced properties in the entry-level price ranges are generating multiple offers! Those offers may still result in a sales price below list, but it is extremely encouraging news to see this kind of activity! And it’s also a good reminder to buyers that they are not going to be the only ones to recognize good value when they see it.
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