It continues to be a strong market considering the economic crisis and the slumped oil prices, says Realtors Association of Edmonton, CBC News reports.
In their annual market review held Tuesday, 2015's statistics showed that inventory remains high in Edmonton, as well as the price tags.
"I think the outcome of the year actually has - in my opinion - been a little bit of a surprise," says Geneva Tetreault, last year's chair for the association. "I think, especially when we compare ourselves to other parts of the province, Edmonton has fared very well.
"It's overall been a good year, but it's overall been a cautious year for a lot of people."
Despite the relatively stable market, inventory became higher than normal which led to the cooling of the inventory, says Tetreault.
This high number of inventory was highlighted when the listings on the market reached 5,088 in 2015, a dramatic rise considering that one year previous, there were only 3,059 properties listed for sale.
"We continued to see homebuyers take advantage of low mortgage rates," Tetreault said. "We continue to see a tight market in the popular $400,000 price range for single-family homes."
According to the association, residential property sales fell 9 per cent in the Edmonton region in 2014 - single family homes were down nine per cent the previous year, while condos were down 13 per cent.
Meanwhile, sales for duplex and row-houses have seen an increase of 6 per cent.
Prices up slightly
Comparing the numbers for 2014 and 2015, the former had slightly higher residential sales at 18,991 while 2015 reported a number of 17,298.
Although deals have been slow, the prices have been slightly higher. The average price for single-family homes was $437,569, and condos were at an average price of $252,954.
The city has been active with infill housing and this has helped with the market's inventory, increasing the number of homes for sale. However, buyers are still not as confident because of the unstable economy.
It will be hard for sellers, believes Ron Hewitt.
Hewitt buys and sells flipped homes. He bought a duplex which he renovated and placed on the market in September last year. It since hasn't moved.
"When we were working on this place, we just thought that things were going really well," he said. "We were quite confident this was going to sell, and that hasn't happened. So, of course, it's very frustrating."
He believes that smaller and cheaper homes are currently more interesting for potential buyers, plus the increased inventory is not helping.
For Tetreault, the prices could remain stable, but that might change if more homes will join the market in 2016.
