Beech Woolger April 2020 Post

Covid-19 The YEG Real Estate Market

The Covid-19 pandemic is exposing people to difficult times no matter who you are. If you were thinking of buying/selling your home in the year 2020, things have changed for you. If you own a home, things have changed for you. If you are a landlord, or a tenant, you for sure have some questions. We often get the same question, “hows the market?” Luckily we have some answers. Let’s look at what is going on right now in the Edmonton and Area Real Estate Market.

 

If you are looking to buy or sell a home, you will want to look at the data. You want to see the trends, and try to forecast where things are heading. The standard Realtors Association Market update will be out in a week or so, but things are changing on the daily. So here is what the numbers saying is going on in the market right now. 

This graph helps outline what we are seeing out there. This is the current up to date home sale numbers for all residential units in Edmonton and surrounding areas, as compared to previous years. Keep in mind this lags behind about two weeks, as sales dont register until about 3 weeks after an offer is written. We should see further short term decline.

 

You see that home sales are decreasing, and are likely to continue until the pandemic sees some daylight. Short term plummeting sales are happening due to temporary layoffs, social distancing, and the way this affects the showing homes. Job uncertainty is affecting pre-approvals, and any time there is uncertainty, people rightly want to wait it out. 

Next we see a chart showing what is selling right now compared to previous years. Not the most conclusive information, but it tells me that as always the trend is toward the more affordable units turning over most frequently. Does this mean your home will not sell if it is worth more than $350,000? Not at all. Well priced homes are still selling. We expext days on market numbers to increase overall. There will be alot of standing inventory as we ride this out. There are however, certain types of properties that are going to be easier to sell than others during a pandemic. Vacant homes as an example, are getting more action than others. New homes also fall into this category. Investment properties etc. 

 

We are not seeing massive slashes in prices. We are not seeing panic in the market. We are just seeing a bit of a pause. New listings continue to trickle onto the market, yet buyers are choosing to stay home for obvious reasons. Listing viewings online are as prevalent as ever. We see viewership increasing lately as people browse the MLS more often with their new downtime. Staying home for extended periods might even increase sales after this is all over. We all notice the things we have to fix! Whether it takes 1,2,or 12 months for the Covid-19 pandemic to be eliminated, we feel will get back to normal at some point. So be patient as possible.

 

If you are in a position where you need to list a property, regardless of timing, we can guide you in the right direction. We are still getting showings and offers on our current inventory. Albeit less often.

If you are looking to move once the dust settles from this pandemic, we can help you plan for the future. We can use technology to our benefit and show you what you can do in the meantime, as well as assess your property value for the long term via online tools or if needed, an in-person meeting. 

 

If you are a buyer in this market, and want to capitalize on a rare opportunity, i would love to share with you some of the incentives we are seeing out there. Builders are likely to unload property as they will not want to hold inventory. Homeowners with multiple properties may unload prime property to free up capital. Showings with the necessary distancing precautions are still happening as we speak. Getting a realtor created property search is essential in this market to see listings as soon as they are uploaded.

 

We are here to help. Please reach out to the Beech Woolger Team at any point if you are looking for any market information!

The Beech Woolger Team

Dave Woolger and Dustin Beech

(780)964-8994 / (780)660-8449

beechwoolger@gmail.com