An over-abundance of houses for sale in the Edmonton area could mean slower sales and lower prices until well into next year, an economist tells Global News.
The average single family home in the Edmonton region took 66 days to sell last month, according to the Realtor Association of Edmonton, which is seven days longer than in November 2017. On average, condominiums took 80 days to sell, an increase of four days.
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Prices have dropped, too, with single-family homes selling for an average of $421,715 in November, according to the association — 4.55 per cent lower than a year before.
Condominium prices, meanwhile, averaged $218,443, a 6.07 per cent drop.
Tougher federal mortgage rules have meant less spending power for buyers, the association’s president and CEO, Michael Thompson, told Global News.
“There’s an expectation gap between the amount of money a person can borrow and the amount of money that a person is willing to sell their home for,” Thompson said.
Raemonde Bezenar has had her St. Albert condominium on the market for nine months. Despite lowering her price twice, the top-floor corner suite remains empty.
“I want to find the right owners, the right family — or single family — to be able to come here and literally enjoy this place as much as I do,” Bezenar said. “I love this place”
Stagnant wages and uncertainty over mortgage rules and interest rates have only worsened the situation, according to John Rose, the chief economist at the City of Edmonton.
“We’re going to start to see — hopefully sometime in the first quarter, certainly in the second quarter — that inventory get eroded, but it’s going to be well into 2019 before you get back to what could be considered normal,” Rose said.
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