Housing prices in St. Albert remain stable heading into the final quarter of the year, however, the market saw a decline in listings and sales in September as compared to a month ago.
Realtors Association of Edmonton president Larry Westergard said that housing prices in St. Albert have always been slightly higher than Edmonton, something he attributes to the former being what he calls a “desirable bedroom community.”
“I think you’re noticing that the trending has been the same,” he said of the two cities.
Westergard said third-quarter activity was identical to the first quarter this year.
Typically, he said, sales drop from the second to third quarter but remain higher than the first.
According to an Oct. 4 report from the Realtors Association of Edmonton, prices for both single-family homes and condos were down slightly last month as compared to a year ago. The average price of a single-family home in St. Albert last month was $413,063, down slightly from $416,938 in September 2009. In 2008, the average price of a single-family home was $424,864. The price for a row house/duplex also rose slightly compared to the average price of a unit in September of last year.
Condominium prices have decreased 3.1 per cent from last year. The average price of a condo in St. Albert was listed as $244,750 last month, compared to $267,529 in 2009 and $252,743 in 2008.
For now, Westergard said the market seems to be resting.
“After the turmoil of the past couple of years and the rush to buy in the early part of the year, it seem that consumers are just sitting back and waiting to see what comes up next,” he said.
Westergard said a spike in the number of houses sold in the earlier part of 2010 was likely due to a number of incentives being offered to buyers at that time.
“We had a lot of news coming out from the banks and from Ottawa that talked about various incentives that were being offered, for instance, from the banks to get a mortgage and to secure a mortgage, “ he said.
“We were also seeing a lot of discussion and talk about how mortgage rates were going to be increasing as the year went on.”
Many buyers, he said, were eager to buy before interest rates returned to pre-recession levels.
“So you had, instead of people waiting until a traditional April, May, June period, to make their buying decision, they started in March,” he noted.
Westergard said the housing market will likely remain as is for the remainder of 2010.
“I think what you see now in the market is what you’re going to see for the rest of the year,” he said.
“It’s pretty much going to be a flat market until we get to the next year.”
