Call it the Edmonton Advantage.
The city's blistering-hot real estate market broke more than 70 records last year as a strong economy, bolstered by major oilsands development in northern Alberta, pushed the Edmonton market to levels it has never reached before.
A total of 20,110 transactions took place - a new high for the city - representing a total value of $3.7 billion, also a best-ever mark for Edmonton.
Meanwhile, the price for the average single-family home at year-end was $202,711, another record, compared to $191,336 on Dec. 31, 2003. The highest average price of a single-family dwelling at monthend was $208,121 in October 2004, again setting a new standard.
Other new benchmarks set in 2004 include the highest number of total sales of single-family dwellings in a year - at 12,028 - and the average price of a condominium at yearend, which came in at $134,503. The highest average price of a condominium recorded at month's end was $142,536 in September, once more setting a new mark.
At a news conference last week, outgoing Edmonton Real Estate Board (EREB) president Bill Briggs called it a great situation and said he can't see anything that will derail the market this year.
"I don't see anything that's going to change the situation too much in 2005 and I don't see interest rates going up too much either," said Briggs.
"I don't think we expected to set (all) the records we set in 2004 but we expected an excellent year," he said, attributing the economy, low interest rates and very low unemployment levels. "How long we can keep setting records is anybody's guess but I don't see us looking back."
Further, in-migration to Edmonton, pegged at between 10,000 to 12,000 people a year by Edmonton Economic Development Corp., is also helping, said Briggs, who emphasized that the number actually rises to 15,000 to 20,000 people annually if the surrounding areas are included.
Incoming EREB president Jim Kulak, a realtor from Stony Plain who will succeed Briggs, said the board doesn't feel any pressure to repeat the success of 2004.
"We expect it to be a good year in 2005 but we don't know how good yet. We don't make the market, it's set by external factors," said Kulak, pointing to the local, provincial and national economies.
"As long as oil prices are doing very well, we should be doing very well."
Even with all the records, Briggs talked of a market that is doing well across the board - from the inner city to the high end. "I can't see any one segment that is doing better than the others," he said.
In addition, a healthy inventory of active listings meant price increases were kept within a reasonable range. At the end of 2004, there were 3,854 homes in the EREB inventory, up one over the same period a year earlier.
"Statistics show that Edmonton is still one of the most affordable places to live of all the major urban areas across Canada," said Briggs, another reason why the market had an excellent year. "It's significant that we are very attractively priced in the Alberta marketplace. On average, we're $40,000 cheaper (than similar product) in Calgary. We still have value-priced real estate in Edmonton."
Briggs said buyers represent a broad spectrum, including those moving into the area, people buying starter homes, those moving up in the market and others switching from single-family homes to condominiums.
Among other records established last year, 2004 marked the earliest date to reach $1 billion in total EREB sales, which came on April 20. July 2 became the earliest date the EREB reached $2 billion in total board sales while Oct. 4 became the earliest date to reach the $3-billion level.
Record total board sales in a month was set in June with 2,253 units worth $418.8 million, while record board sales were also set for the months of March (2,059 units), May (2,217 units), August (1,759 units) and November (1,386 units).
The EREB was founded in 1927 and is a professional association of 2,633 brokers and agents in the greater Edmonton area.
(Laura Severs can be reached at laura@businessedge.ca)
