EDMONTON REAL ESTATE @EdmontonRealty

CEOs predict years of sluggish growth for residential real estate prices. By Jaqueline Nelson Canadian CEOs don’t think that the country’s real estate market is in a bubble, but that doesn’t mean they’re optimistic about further growth. A recent Compas Inc. poll shows that business leaders expect a rise in residential real estate prices over the next 12 months of just 1.75%. That’s a modest prediction, given that real estate prices jumped 18% in the past year, and that over the past 20 years, they increased on average by 3.4%. Like the executives polled, the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) expects to see continued growth in housing prices as well as increased buying and selling through the first half of 2010. Both CREA and the poll respondents said many homebuyers are looking to purchase homes before the harmonized sales tax comes into effect. “B.C. and Ontario are likely to see house prices drop in the latter two quarters of this year, following the adoption of the HST,...

Canadian Mortgage Broker News - Alberta housing starts jump up in July Alberta housing starts jump up in July Tuesday, 24 August 2010 Alberta's total housing starts in July were up 61.5 per cent over last year for the same month, according to the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. But it is doubtful a real estate boom is back. "This streak will likely end in Calgary," said Richard Cho, a senior market analyst for the Calgary branch of CMHC. He predicts a slowdown because of the high listings availability for resale and rising interest rates. In most of Alberta's larger cities, construction started on 2,348 homes in July, compared to 1,454 in July 2009. Only Lethbridge and Red Deer saw a decrease.

For those of you interested in Politics, the following link to a poll will be of interest.... Wildrose Alliance VS PC

One day after a report showed Canadian housing sales were down 30 per cent, most major banks announced they were cutting mortgage rates. Most banks trimmed mortgage rated by one tenth of a percentage point, effective Tuesday morning. The move brings the five-year closed rate down to 5.49 per cent. "Pretty much across the board, fixed current rates are coming down by about a tenth of a percentage point," said BNN's Michael Kane. "The Royal Bank of Canada, which is the largest, kicked things off yesterday with the announcement and it was followed by CIBC, Scotia, pretty much everyone except National Bank and TD. But generally speaking they will probably make their announcements today." The move doesn't affect the one-year closed rate for mortgages, which is holding steady at 3.30 per cent at most institutions. Kane said the reduction of mortgage rates is linked to the shifting bond market. "The bond market is where banks finance their mortga...

Sellers better sharpen pencils NOW.... The Canadian Real Estate Association on Monday reported a 6.8 per cent drop in home sales through its MLS service, compared with June numbers. The decline is part of a gradual dampening of Canada's once-booming real estate market. B.C. and Ontario account for roughly 85 per cent of the slump, as the implementation of the harmonized sales tax this summer pushed many home buyers to purchase earlier this year, the association said in a statement. The two provinces typically represent more than half of the country's sales. "We're not seeing a huge slide," BNN's Andrew Bell told CTV News Channel on Monday. "Things were pretty frenetic last year… We're actually still up year-on-year on sales, prices are holding -- so we're not seeing a dive in the housing market by any means." So far, this year's sales are up 5.6 per cent from the first seven months of 2009. But experts predict that lead...

Cooler prices in July are still up 1.5% from last year Edmonton , August 4, 2010: While the summer temperatures rose in July, housing prices cooled and prices for all types of residential properties dipped slightly according to figures released by the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. Single family dwelling prices slid 3.1% while condo prices were down 1.5% and duplex/rowhouse prices dipped just less than one percent. The all-residential average price dropped just 1.7%. "The number of homes in the inventory is giving buyers' choice," said Larry Westergard, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. "As a result many buyers are taking their time and prices are beginning to soften slightly. At the same time, some sellers who have been standing firm have been pushed to discount their initial list price." Less than half of the active listings over 30 days have had a price reduction. However, 93% of July sales sold below the list with about 40% having...

Well don't let anybody blow smoke up your a#* these days about Real Estate.....The fact of the matter is that it is in a very worrysome state.  Inventory is at a record high and that spells out BUYERS market in a big way!  If you are selling the world is not over but just become more difficult, you must have at least 3 of 4 of the following keys to selling an Edmonton home. 1) Awesome Place (location)- you need people to be currently shopping in your area 2)Great Product (look and feel) - -buyers need to gravitate to to it starting from the outside look and feel as well as a clean and attractive interior. 3)Great Promotion(exposure)- First off you need the most exposure possible, so a Real Estate agent is vital so that it goes onto sites like http://www.realtor.ca/ , http://www.mls.ca/ and http://www.premierteam.ca/ ***Best part is you only pay if it sells and you don't need to pay $500 to $1,000 to a private sale company and hope it sell because you alrea...