Corporate Relocations: Relocating your family to Edmonton Part 2 - 06/27/09 12:09 PM
I've included some more question and answers relocation related.
Question: What if my employer doesn't pay for the move, are their any savings I can receive?
Answer:  This is a question you should ask your accountant.  If you are relocating a certain distance for work reasons Canada Customs and Revenue Agency could allow you to claim expenses such as flights, moving vans, hotel stays, meals, inspection costs, etc.  Again I am not an accountant, but check with your accountant to see if these expenses can be claimed by you.
Question: I don't know much about the area I am moving to, … (0 comments)

Corporate Relocations: Relocating your family to Edmonton Part 1 - 06/27/09 11:54 AM
Each year I work with 10 or more families relocating from other cities and regions of Canada into the Metro Edmonton area.  I've put together a few questions and answers that might be of help should you be relocating.
Question: Should I have my home sold first?
Answer:  This is a big one.  I highly recommend you sell your current home first.  Even if you can financially swing buying before you sell, it converts you from a want to seller to a have to seller.  Your negotiating power on the selling of your home is definitely weakened when you have the … (0 comments)

Edmonton Mortgage Defaults Soar in 2009!!! Wait a second.... - 06/23/09 05:55 PM
I just came across a "news" article in the Edmonton Journal today.  The title is Mortgage Defaults Soar!!!!  http://www.edmontonjournal.com/Business/Mortgage+defaults+soar/1723557/story.html  I like to present facts and stats, but this stat can be very misleading.   I really had to laugh at some of the "stats" the article brought up.  One that really stood out was, and I quote "ForeclosuresCanada.com,which tracks Alberta court filings for property investors--but doesn't provide data with the same level of detail as the province--listed two-and-a-half times more Edmonton foreclosures between this January and early May than in the same period two years ago."  Now, anybody that had a remote involvement in … (1 comments)

Metro Edmonton Real Estate price range statistics June 2009 - 06/18/09 11:48 AM
I was mentioning in a previous post the price ranges that are the most active. I've put together another graph that shows where the market is the most active. Currently close to 50% of the market is under $300,000, 85% of the market is under $400,000. The biggest segment of buyers by far are in the $250,000-$300,000 price range. That segment alone makes up close to 20% of the market. These stats are for June 2009, month to date (as of June 17th).
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Edmonton Real Estate Average Condo Price Mid June 2009 - 06/17/09 12:41 PM
The condo market has strengthened as well.  I've put together another graph showing the condo price increase in the Edmonton real estate market. (Note: the June stats are all based on data up to Jun 15, 2009) Again this clearly shows the impact the upswing in sales and constant listing inventory has had on the prices in the area. 

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Edmonton Real Estate Average Sale Price Mid June 2009 - 06/16/09 06:09 PM
Hi again!  I've put together a graph to show the rapid price increases we have seen in the last 60 days in the Edmonton real estate market.  (Note: the June stats are all based on data up to Jun 15, 2009) From the SFD graph it appears as if we hit the lowest price for single family in February of 2009. This falls into line with the continual shrinking of the months of inventory in the Edmonton area.  

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Mid June 2009 Edmonton Real Estate Market Update - 06/15/09 01:00 PM
Sales continue to be strong.  Currently we are on pace to sell over 2300 homes this month.  That is even stronger than May (2161).  So, unless things tailoff, we may beat May's numbers.  As for listing inventory, we are currently sitting at 7562 properties for sale.  The number of new listings is keeping the inventory level constant and close to what we ended May with (7435 properties).  I expect the inventory level to drop to close to 7000 by the end of the month.  This follows seasonal trends of the listing inventory peaking in the month of May. 
The market is … (0 comments)

Official Edmonton MLS stats for May 2009 - 06/02/09 02:10 PM

Well the stats are out. The market did perform quite well in May as was expected. The main points are:1) May Sales (2161 sales) are consistent with 2005 numbers (before we had our boom in 2006-07). The sales are not recordbreaking but strong. Throughout 2008 we never sold more than 2000 homes in a month. Year to date sales are still lower than 2008 (by 8%).2) Listing inventory is DOWN 100 properties from April. Normally May is the peak level of inventory for the calender year.3) PRICES are being impacted up by 4%. Buyers are shifting up in price, this … (0 comments)