Edmonton Realtors See Home Market Return to Stability in 2023
Forecasts "more balanced" market with prices, listings near 2019 level.
The Realtors Association of Edmonton (RAE) has issued a 2023 housing forecast that sees a gradual decline in the Canadian city’s housing market with prices and listings hovering closer to pre-pandemic levels seen in 2019.
“We know the region is resilient, and we have plenty of reasons to be optimistic. Alberta and the Edmonton area have a lot to offer, especially when compared to our provincial counterparts,” said Melanie Boles, REA chair, in a statement.
The forecast projects a 2.9% decline in detached home prices to $486K (prices are in Canadian dollars, now trading for about 70% of US greenbacks) in 2023 from $500K in 2022, which saw record highs of more than $510K in April, RAE figures show, adding that average prices for that class in 2018 and 2019 stood at about $444K and $435K, respectively, according to a report in the Edmonton Journal.
The association also expects prices to fall 2.4% year-over-year for semi-detached houses to $365K from $374K, or 1.4% for row houses and townhouses to $254K from $258K, and 1.1% for apartment condominiums to $195K from $197K.
RAE expects sales of detached homes to fall to 13,600 in 2023 from 15,413 in 2022; the tallies for 2018 and 2019 were at 11,267 and 11,126, respectively. Declines in semi-detached homes sales could fall 9.3%, as well as transactions involving row houses and townhouses (2.4%), RAE said.
On the brighter side, the association said condos could see a 1.3% uptick in sales, with continuing demand for Downtown condos in particular on the luxury end of the market.
“There’s still a buyer in the market,” Boles said, according to the Journal report. “But maybe instead of looking at that detached home, they’re looking at an attached home, a row house (or) an apartment condominium.”
RAE forecasts a decline in listings for these property types including detached homes, which it expects to drop 5.7%, 3.7% for semi-detached homes, 0.3% for row houses and townhouses and 2.6% for apartment condos.
Despite the general declines in last week’s RAE forecast, Boles said Edmonton can look forward to an uptick in activity for the spring market, which has traditionally been a busier time of year.
The cost of borrowing will increase one more time in Canada before rates level off, as economists expect one more Bank of Canada rate hike before the central bank’s campaign of tightening ends.