April 2024 Edmonton Area Market Update

So it continues, if you have had a chance to catch my monthly market update over the last few months you would notice that we have been seeing consistent growth in our Edmonton market in both sales, prices, and thankfully inventory. It is only the beginning of April, but it is certainly clear we are having a hot start to spring - so let me break down the main points from March. 

 

In March we brought nearly 3600 new homes to market which grew by another 1/3 from February and almost 9% higher than last year which resulted in another 25% more homes sold in March than the previous month, and a significant increase over 2023 at almost 36%. With this much volume transacting all of a sudden, it is no wonder we are hearing rumours of price increases and homes not lasting very long in multiple offers, which I will get to. The good news through all of this is we had more listings come to market than come off the market, putting us in a positive inventory position which will be important this spring and in the coming months to keeping prices in check. (At least moderate the increases.)

 

But with all this buying and selling frenzy, homes are no longer sitting on the market for nearly 2 months like they were just merely weeks ago. The average home is selling in 39 days with some row/townhomes selling within a 34 day average. This about 19% shorter than last year and 22% quicker than in February. Because we still continue to see lots of multiple offers, one might easily wonder how prices have reacted this spring. The median home price in the Greater Edmonton Area finally crossed the $400,000 mark up to $405,000 this month increasing 1.8% this month, with the high riser surprisingly the apartment condos growing 10.5% in March! A overdue comeback. Oh and don't worry, I didn't forget about the row/townhouses as I am saving the best for last, they are up 24% since this time last year.   

 

So, where does it go from here? Typically we start seeing prices in the market peak between April and May, however we have had outlier years that have peaked earlier or much later than this. If we look south to our friends in Calgary, it hasn't slowed down in over 2 years, which has started pushing some of the lower priced Calgary buyers north to Edmonton. There certainly is a case to be made that we could see a prolonged spring market this year with hopes of lower rates or more interprovincial migration with more people choosing Edmonton over Calgary, However many factors affect the housing market, like supply chain, government policy or elections are all indirect factors that could cut our market short, or drag it out for a longer run... I think we will need to wait and see.

 

The biggest mistakes I have seen people make is trying to time the market on the way up or on the way down. If you are going to buy, buy because it makes sense to in the long run, either has a home or investment property. The same should be said for selling, if it makes sense to sell this year, then that is great, but I don't recommend doing it just to "lock in" higher spring prices, who knows if this is just the "pre-game warmup".