RE/MAX Real Estate Blog

Cooler nights and falling leaves all suggest summer in the city is quickly drawing to a close. Edmontonians are acutely aware just how little of the season we get to experience up north but also how to best take advantage of our few warm days. If you feel like you’ve dwindled the summer away, fear not. We’ve compiled a list of all the best events happening this weekend right here in town:

The Edmonton Airshow

Truly all ages, this is a great event for families with kids, adults, and aviations buffs alike. From Saturday August 22 to Sunday August 23 out at Villeneuve Airport, the show runs from 10 am to 6 pm both days. Showcasing a combination of modern avionics and the rich history of flight, the event will host aerobatic performances to awe and delight.

The Edmonton Blues Festival

View from Edmonton Blues Fest. Image Courtesy of Explore Edmonton.

Hosted in Hawrelak Park’s Heritage Amphitheatre, this long running Edmonton institution is not to be missed.  Featuring Grammy, Juno, and IBC winners, this superstar lineup makes this event the ‘premier blues festival in Western Canada’. The shows run August 21-23 and there are a variety of weekend and daily ticket packages available for every level of fan from casual observer to diehard.

Edmonton International Fringe Theatre Festival

There’s still time to catch the last few days of Fringe, which runs right up until this Sunday night!  And in this case last certainly does not mean least. The entire weekend (and week leading up to it) is jam packed with professional calibre theatre performances across multiple venues in the Strathcona area, street performers, kids fringe activities, and of course festival food (the deep fried mars bars are not to be missed).

Art Gallery of Alberta

Since its state of the art renovations, the shiny new AGA (formerly Edmonton Art Gallery) has been host to world class exhibitions from Warhol to Degas to Toulouse-Leutrec. Of the 8 current, stunning exhibitions they have on display, this Sunday is the last day for the long running Jack Bush Retrospective exhibit. An amazing showcase of the Canadian abstract painter’s talents, truly considered a vanguard in the ‘colour field’ movement. Also not to be missed, the breathtaking Italian Baroque Masterworks exhibition, and another highlight, “The Double Bind” which represents a juxtaposition of modern and postmodern works.

Al Fresco, the 104th Street Community Block Party

Both ends of 104th street, North and South of Jasper Ave will be closed of for this spectacular community based event. This will allow extended patio seating for Promenade district restaurants and cafes, and allow for food trucks, and on street programming that includes DJ’s, live music, and a wine garden! Fundraising events include a silent auction for the Edmonton Food Bank, who will also be on hand  accepting donations. Even the 104th Street 7-11 is involved, vowing to give out free slurpees all day long. Who can say no to free icy treats???

Strathearn Drive Home in Edmonton

According to reports released by EREB earlier this month, the most notable real estate sale statistic has been June’s increase in year-over-year sales. This is the first instance we have seen this year of monthly reported sales eclipsing those of 2014.

While June of 2014 saw a reported 1961 residences sold in the Edmonton census metropolitan area, this year the market saw 2008 homes sold,  a small increase of 2.4%. The breakdown of residential property styles sold shows an overwhelming popularity of duplex/row houses, of which sales increased over 11% from this time last year, followed by single family dwellings at 2.1%, and finally condominiums with the smallest change at 1.6%. The largest statistical change reported for the month of June were the increase in sales from the previous month of May 2015 showing a 13% growth.

However, though EREB acknowledges that this shows clear market growth, the fact we are seeing this year over year increase so late in 2015 is largely indicative of an overall slowing of the market, which we are only now seeing the results of.

“The reality of what we are seeing in the market is that the slight hesitation from buyers that came with the drop in oil prices is lessening. Edmonton has not been hit nearly as bad as what many predicted and buyers are becoming more confident that our market won’t plummet. This renewed confidence coupled with low mortgage rates and a healthy selection means that people are realizing that this is still a good time to buy.” Explains REALTORS® Association of Edmonton President Geneva Tetreault.

Inventory, which so heavily influenced late spring and early summer market numbers, remains high with 7177 listings on the market at the end of June, though likely due to higher june sales figures, is still less than the 7303 reported at the end of May 2015. Inventory continues to remain higher in year over year comparisons, up 7.7%.

As far as pricing, which has seemingly been unaffected by high inventory numbers, we’ve seen only a 0.8% drop from the month previous for all residential listing costs. Single family homes have seen a 2% increase in year over year figures, currently averaging $444, 862. The same 2% increase was seen in duplex/rowhouses, despite their rising popularity, while condominiums are showing no change at $255, 662 on average. 

“We finally saw prices take the expected small dip month over month that we have been waiting to see due to lower sales and higher inventory. Prices still remain higher than the same time last year and with sales ramping up again and inventory starting to settle, we likely won’t see our prices drop much more than this,” explains Tetreault.

Lastly there has been a slight increase in average days on market; residential properties in general spent an average 49 days on the market. Condominiums had the highest report DOM at 52, followed by the 50 days for Duplex/rowhouses, and 46 for single family homes (up from 43). These increases have likely been influenced by the combination of sale prices and inventory surpluses.

“People move when their lifestyle warrants a change. This will always be true. There are always buyers and sellers, no matter what the market looks like or what analysts predict. REALTORS® are here to help you decide what move is best for you.” Concludes Tetrault.

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