EDMONTON – MLS transactions and average resale home prices in Edmonton cooled in September compared with a year ago, according to the Realtors Association of Edmonton.
Total residential Multiple Listing Service sales for the month fell 12 per cent from September 2011, while the all-residential average selling price dropped 2.6 per cent to $323,369.
The decreases were part of a quarterly trend that saw listings and sales drop off in July, August and September. At the end of the quarter, there were 1,269 residential sales in the Edmonton region, down form 1,442 in the same quarter last year. For the year to date, residential sales are still up 7.2 per cent year-over-year.
“There were changes to the mortgage qualification rules in March,” association president Doug Singleton said Tuesday. “We did not see an effect on the local market at that time, but it seems to have had a cooling effect in the past quarter.”
The average price of a single-family residence in September slipped two per cent from August to $376,678. That’s up slightly, 0.23 per cent, year-over-year.
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Condo average selling prices decreased 3.1 per cent monthly and 2.1 per cent annually to $229,246 in September.
“Sales always fall month-to-month at the end of the year; that’s just normal market fluctuation,” Singleton said. “But overall, the market has been stable with little market advantage for either buyers or sellers.”
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The numbers in the rest of Canada are a little different, though. According to a survey by Royal LePage, the average price of a home actually rose between 1.8 and 4.8 per cent in the third quarter of 2012, compared to the same period last year.
The survey says the cost of an average two-storey home in Canada increased four per cent to $403,747, while detached bungalows rose 4.8 per cent to $366,773.
Standard condominiums saw an increase of 1.8 per cent to $243,607, and while most cities experienced modest price appreciation in the quarter, fewer homes were sold compared to the same period in 2011.
In July, the federal finance ministry said the maximum amortization period for insured mortgages would be reduced to 25 years from 30 years.
It was the fourth intervention in the mortgage market in just four years and the most impactful. Potential first-time buyers, which in a typical market represent one third to one half of all purchase transactions, felt the changes immediately.
“While hard-hit in the short-term, first-time buyers will adjust to tougher mortgage qualifications,” said
Company president Phil Soper.
“The dream of homeownership is very much alive among young Canadians. They may remain renters for sometime as they save; some will opt for less desirable neighbourhoods and some will purchase smaller homes.”
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