A new survey released Friday morning from Royal LePage shows housing prices in Canada have jumped 21.4 per cent since this time last year.
In Edmonton, the housing prices have jumped, but prices are considered to be more realistic compared to some other cities such as Vancouver and Ottawa.
“You talk to a lot of different people from across the country and they’re all saying this has been the craziest year in terms of activity and price escalation,” Tom Shearer, broker and owner at Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate, said.
“I would say that in Edmonton, we’re seen a great year in terms of activity and we’ve seen moderate price increases compared to other parts of the country.”
The Royal LePage House Price Survey shows the aggregate price of a home in Canada has risen to $749,800, compared to $617,800 in the third quarter of 2020. In terms of major Canadian cities, the biggest jumps were in Greater Vancouver at 20.8 per cent and Ottawa at 20.7.
In Edmonton, the aggregate price of a home increased 9.7 per cent year-over-year to $431,500 in the third quarter of 2021.
The aggregate price is calculated using a weighted average of the median values of all housing types collected, according to Royal LePage.
“Prices are normalizing (in Edmonton),” Shearer said. “There’s realistic pricing happening right now. It’s not like parts of Canada where they’re seeing 10 offers every time a house comes on the market. You’re seeing prices remaining stable.”
However, the price of an Edmonton condo has dipped compared to this time last year.
Broken out by housing type in Edmonton, the median price of a single-family detached home increased 11.1 per cent to $470,400 and the median price of a condominium decreased 3.0 per cent to $194,700.
“The apartment condos in the centre of the city haven’t seen the interest that they’ve seen in past years,” Shearer said.
“I think that’s because the action isn’t there right now. I think when international students return to the city, when the night life comes back to downtown — and it will — I think people will want to be back downtown again.”
As for what’s popular right now in Edmonton, Shearer said people continue to demand more space and that’s often on the outskirts of the city or in bedroom communities. He said demand for homes priced between $550,000 and $850,000 continues to increase.
The survey predicts home prices in Edmonton will continue to climb by six per cent by the end of the year, which is slightly lower than what had been forecast in July.
“By the end of this year, we’ll probably have seen the most amount of sales activity in the Edmonton region that I can remember and I’ve been doing this for 21 years. It’s incredible in terms of the volume of transactional activity that happened,” Shearer said.