Mortgage changes do not dramatically
affect local housing market
Edmonton, May 4, 2010: April is the
start of the busy second quarter for real estate, and resale housing
sales were down over the same month last year according to a report
issued by the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. Average* prices
of single family houses moved down compared to a month ago but were
up by 8.2% from last year. Condominium average prices moved up from
last month and were up 7.0% from April 2009.
“There were three increases to interest rates and changes to
mortgage qualifying conditions in April; none of which seemed to slow
down the Edmonton housing market,” said Larry Westergard, president
of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “Despite the upward
movement, mortgage rates are still close to the 10-year average and
not out of reach of most homebuyers. In many cases it is a matter of
the REALTOR® lowering expectations rather than crushing hopes and
dreams.”
Single family residences in the Edmonton area sold on average for
$385,359 in April and condominium prices rose to $253,788. Duplex and
rowhouse prices of $322,127 were up from last month and the average
residential price was down to $339,314.
There were 3,884 residential listings in April with residential sales
of 1,740 properties resulting in a sales-to-listing ratio of 45%. Days-on-market
rang-in at 40 days and inventory at month end was 8,056 residential
units.
“It is pretty clear that the costs of home ownership will increase
as our economy improves relative to the US and other world economies,” said
Westergard. “Only a REALTOR® has access to the latest and
most detailed market figures and their experience and objective viewpoint
will help the buyer and seller come to realistic expectations in their
home search or sale.”
At the end of the annual membership renewal period there were 3,133
REALTORS® on the Association rolls as compared to 3,027 at the
same time in 2009.
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Highlights of MLS® System activity
| April 2010 activity |
Record for
the month* |
% change from
April 2009 |
| Total MLS® System sales this month |
1956 |
3.2% |
| Value of total MLS® System sales - month |
$674 million |
4.9% |
| Value of total MLS® System sales - year |
$1.39 billion |
24.0% |
| Residential¹ sales this month |
1740 |
-5.9% |
| Residential average price |
$339,314 |
-1.3% |
| SFD² average selling price - month |
$385,359 |
8.2% |
| SFD median³ selling price |
$370,000 |
9.1% |
| Condo average selling price |
$253,788 |
7.0% |
¹. Residential includes SFD, condos and duplex/row houses.
². Single Family Dwelling
³. The middle figure in a list of all sales prices
* Average prices indicate market trends only. They do not reflect
actual prices, which vary from house to house and area to area. For
information on a specific area, contact your local REALTOR®.

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Contact
| Larry Westergard |
REALTOR®, 2010 President |
Bus: 780-462-5000 |
| Ron Hutchinson |
C.A.E., Executive V.P. |
Bus: 780-453-9340 |
| Jon Hall |
C.A.E., Manager Communications |
Bus: 780-453-9323 |
|