Stelmach to investigate pollution in Athabasca River
Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach says he's going to investigate why data in a recently released report on pollution from the province's oilsands is different than previously reported data by the government.Three-car crash causes traffic delays
A three-car crash near 105 St. and 97 Avenue is causing traffic delays Wednesday afternoon.Capturing the power of the sun
The City of Edmonton is rolling out a new pilot rebate program to help residents capture the power of the sun.Solar energy rebate offered by city
Home and business owners in Edmonton can qualify for a rebate if they install a solar electric system before the end of the year.Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin appeals sentence
Edmonton Oilers goalie Nikolai Khabibulin was sentenced to 30 days in jail after being found guilty of extreme DUI. His lawyer promptly filed an appeal.Alberta firm helps probe water in star
Astronomers are closer to figuring out how water ended up in an aging carbon star, thanks to a new space telescope and some help from an Alberta company.LRT ridership on the rise
Edmonton is bracing for a flood of new LRT riders over the next week.Accused in cold case set to appear in court
A New Brunswick man charged with the second-degree murder of a woman dating back nine years is set to appear in court Thursday.Vuvuzelas banned from Euro 2012, Champions League
The honking plastic horns that caused such an uproar at the World Cup have been shut out of Champions League and European Championship qualifying matches.Bubble or no bubble? Two research groups sound off… Plus Edmonton Market Stats for August
Before I get to the stats for August I do want to discuss a couple of reports that were released this week. The first by a "centre-left" think tank about the Canadian housing market. The report called "Canada's Housing Bubble - An Accident Waiting to Happen" suggests that at least 6 of Canada's major markets are heading for major correction. And the second from the C.D. Howe Institute called "Not here? Housing market policy and the risk of a housing bust" says we are not in bubble territory.
Both articles are well worth reading and predict different outcomes from our current economic situation. The first study suggests that easy money and low interest rates have created a bubble. They think we are in a bubble because between 2001–2006, all major housing markets in Canada shot to well above the $80,000 average (in 1980 dollars) that had been the norm for 20 years. They also suggest that Edmonton is one of the worst cities, because much of the increase in prices was fueled by the condo market.
Most forecasters have called for prices to drop marginally over the next two years, followed by years of stagnation. The second report says that our tighter lending policies "worked well in reducing the possibility of a housing bust in Canada during 2008-2009, and continue to mitigate the risk of a massive wave of defaults in the future.”
The two reports are not completely opposing views - one says we are in big trouble, the other says it's not great, but it's not that bad either. Both reports suggest that if the banks raise mortgage rates gradually (slower than the bank of Canada rates), and policy makers keep lending rules tight the damage will be mitigated.
Edmonton's Real Estate Market in August
It was more of the same in August in Edmonton - relatively slow sales and high inventory. Single family homes out-performed condos this month as sales of single family homes stayed almost in line with last month:
The average sale price of single family homes increased slightly from $388,549 in July to $390,893 in August. Condos on the other hand dropped from $237,112 to $229,358 in August:
A similar trend was seen with price per square foot with single family homes increasing from $264 to $267 and condos decreased from $235 to $225/square foot.
As has been the trend for a number of months home owners got a smaller chunk of the asking price with the list to sale ratio dropping for both condos and single family homes.
Looking at all of this from a seasonal perspective nothing is really out of the norm...sales tend to slow and prices tend to decline in the second half of the year. We could see a "blip" in September as we have seen in the past two years, but if we do it will just be a blip...not an indication of an improving market.