Posted on
January 29, 2024
by
Hillary Rilling
On January 17, 2024 I treked downtown to the Edmonton Convention Centre to listen to some incredible stats and information about Alberta real estate. Not always the most glamourous but for those of us who find numbers and details exciting, this was thrilling.
My favourite part of the entire conference was the discussion of how Alberta is going to be a strong province for real estate sales and prices over the next couple of years. With the increase of interprovicial movement from BC and Ontario plus many people coming from outside of Canada, Alberta is going to continue to see a population boom. Alberta saw 56,306 newcomers in Q4 of 2023, that is more than the population of Beaumont and Leduc combined! THIS is one of the main factors for the low inventory and buyer competition we have been seeing the past few years. It is also what is causing the limits of available rentals.
Builders are continually trying to keep up with the demand for more homes but not just any home, new comers as well as first time buyers are in the market to find something where they can settle down into even for a couple years especially with the continuely higher Bank of Canada lending rates. We are all hoping that we will start to see a handful of rate drops come into play late Q2 or early Q3 this year. Our expectation is that the BoC won't want to drop the rate too early in the Spring as that may cause a frenzy in an already typically busy market. All we can do is wait and see.
My predicition for this year will continue with tight competition for buyers (think multiple offers, bidding wars and homes selling within a few days) especially in the detached single family or half duplex markets. I think that this year will see half duplexes being the ideal home for young families as they can utilize it well for their needs and it will be a way for them to keep from becoming stretched too thin on payments for the next couple years as we watch rates drop.
I'm not sure we will see a rebound on condo resale prices as I do still think that the market is saturated in Edmonton plus the dizzying increases to condo fees is a huge factor in many people qualifying. If you are thinking of selling your condo, I'd recommend holding on to it as an investment property for the time being as the rental market is full of competing tenants.
