Edmonton Real Estate Blog and Market Updates

82 people moving to Edmonton every day

Posted on September 5, 2014 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

Did you know......Edmonton is growing so fast. In just two years, Edmonton has grown by 7.4% or more than 60,000 people. That’s 82 people moving to Edmonton every day. To put that in perspective, effectively from 2012, we have grown almost the size of a city like St. Albert.

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Customer Satisfaction Ratings

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

In November of 2012, Liv Real Estate became the first real estate company in the Edmonton area to post third-party, verified customer satisfaction ratings on its website www.Livrealestate.ca. Using RealSatisfied.com to collect brand strength information, Liv has taken the lead in bringing a change to how the real estate industry looks at customer feedback data and how it’s used. They hope it represents a paradigm shift.

“Like many areas where we have innovated we expect others to follow and hope they do,” Sheldon Johnston, broker/owner of Liv Real Estate says. “You see most companies are still trapped in a time warp of measuring their agents sales productivity. This has been going on so long that it will take some time for some of the behemoths of the industry to get their peeps in on the act.”

Sheldon wants to lead Canadian real estate in a new direction. “When we were with an international franchise,” he reflected, “I was guilty of getting caught up in the age old industry mantra of promoting my team as the number one team in Canada for that franchise.” And while he recognizes that sales and revenue are the measuring sticks of a successful business, he wants to shift the focus. “There are sales people and there are advisors, and we have chosen to be the latter.”

Liv’s journey to this place started years back as Sheldon campaigned to get rid of sales awards in his Association. “2012 was the last year for our Medallion awards,” he said. “Instead, the association is now going to recognize its community builders and standout volunteers.”

Even 9 years ago, when Sara MacLennan came to us after being the Director of Marketing for that same international franchise, the first thing she did was shift the focus to the consumer. She got rid of Sheldon’s giant face on their homepage, and gave consumers access to listings on their sites without having to sign in.

“If we give the consumer what they want, and do it exceptionally well,” Sara believes, “they will remember us and our business will grow.” And grow it has. From a three person, family operation in 2005, Liv Real Estate now has 25 agents and staff that will do 8 times as many transactions in 2013 compared to 2005. “You’d be hard pressed to find us online in 2005,” Sara adds, “and today our web sites get almost 3 million page views/month, because we give Edmonton area buyers and sellers what they are looking for.”

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Their journey to RealSatisfied has taken more than three years. They have watched companies in Edmonton startup with full page spreads in the Journal promoting their vision of agent ratings and reviews only to disappear like tumbleweeds. “We realized that this might be tougher than we thought,” Sheldon said. “Then there was YELP, which seemed like it had what it took to fulfill the promise. However, most of the time we have more trouble dealing with fake reviews there.”

“Even nationally, CREA wrestled with this very concept recently,” he says. “Our journey reached a culmination of sorts as we found that RealSatisfied could independently measure our customer experiences, and deliver back a lot more than just ratings.”

For the past 8 months, Liv has been posting 3rd party verified customer ratings on their web site for any consumer in Edmonton who is interested in buying or selling the home of their dreams. They used the RealSatisfied WordPress plugin to easily accomplish this. “Our customers now have a place to check out our awesome agents,” Sara delights in saying. “Other companies continue to promote their sales people’s income performance. They advertise that they are number one for this or that. We only have customer service awards. We are very proud of that.”

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Snapshot of Edmonton real estate stats for the month of July 2013

Posted on August 2, 2013 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton released their monthly report on the Greater Edmonton area real estate market today showing stats are up in all categories on a year over year basis. Sales in the region were up nearly 25% - there were 1875 sales in July, compared to 1502 last year and 1897 last month.

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Snapshot of Edmonton real estate stats for the month of June 2013

Posted on July 4, 2013 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

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Snapshot of Edmonton real estate stats for the month of May 2013

Posted on June 4, 2013 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

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Snapshot of Edmonton real estate stats for the month of April 2013

Posted on May 3, 2013 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

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2013 Housing Forecast is bullish on Edmonton

Posted on January 23, 2013 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

Edmonton, January 9, 2013: The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton released their annual housing forecast today at a seminar at the Northlands Expo Centre attended by 700 REALTORS® and business people. President Darrell Cook forecast that the value of MLS® sales in 2013 will increase by about 3% for the year after sales of $7 billion in 2012. This is based on a three percent increase in the number of homes sold and increased prices. Cook expects that single family homes, duplexes and rowhouses will increase on average by 2% while the average price for condos will increase by one percent next year.

“We are positioned in the best economy in Canada and perhaps the world,” said Cook. “It is hard to make a restrained forecast when we have job growth, in-migration, low vacancy rates and continuing low interest rates.”

His remarks echoed the predictions of five other speakers at the seminar including Premier Alison Redford who highlighted the value of the housing industry to the Alberta economy. Also presenting at the event were John Rose, Chief Economist for the City of Edmonton; Angus Watt from National Bank of Canada; Brad Ferguson, the President and CEO of Edmonton Economic Development Corporation; and David Lan, Senior Market Analyst from CMHC.

Cook forecast that the year-long average selling price for a single family home, sold through the Multiple Listing Service® in 2013 will increase from $382 thousand to $390 thousand. The average price for a condominium property will increase from $235,500 to $237,800. Although the inventory of available housing is low at this time of year, Cook suggested that increasing prices in the first six months will convince owners to begin listing their property and increased choice for buyers will result.

Cook suggested that, because of our solid economy, the strong interest in acreage properties will continue in 2013 and sales of recreational and vacant properties will also increase as the prices of properties in sun-belt destinations recover and local recreational properties become more comparable in price.

Commercial and industrial sales through the MLS® were up 25% in 2012 and REALTORS® expect the trend to continue next year with an increase in total value from $310 million to $320 million. There will be demand for small office/warehouse lease properties as our strong economy spawns new and expanding businesses.

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Tweddle Place Housing Sales Report - Tweddle Place Edmonton Homes For Sale

Posted on December 27, 2012 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

Reporting Period: January 1, 2012 – November 30, 2012

Summary of single family homes sold in community of Tweddle Place:

Total number of Single Family homes sold: 14
Average home selling price: $321,696
Average selling price per square foot: $249.85
Average days on the Market: 37 days

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Weinlos Housing Sales Report - Weinlos Edmonton Homes For Sale

Posted on December 21, 2012 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

Weinlos neighbourhood is located just east of the centre of Mill Woods. Weinlos began to experience development in
the 1970s but the bulk of development occurred through the 1980s. Low density residential development is the dominant land use in the neighbourhood and single detached homes account for just under 70% of all residential units within the community. Higher density housing is located adjacent to the central school and park site and along the arterial roadway
that forms the eastern border of the neighbourhood. Weinlos was named after Dr. Morris Weinlos (1902-1980) and Dr. Harry Weinlos (d. 1977) who were prominent surgeons and active members of local arts and humanitarian initiatives within Edmonton. The Weinlos brothers immigrated to Canada from Russia in 1921, obtained advanced medical degrees and practiced medicine in the Edmonton area from the 1930s onwards.

Reporting Period: January 1, 2012 – November 30, 2012

Summary of single family homes sold in community of Weinlos:

Total number of Single Family homes sold: 34
Average home selling price: $298,273
Average selling price per square foot: $267.25
Average days on the Market: 41 days

Search Edmonton Homes for sale in Weinlos - Currently listed on MLS

Find out the value of your Weinlos Home - quick, easy, free and no obligations

Contact me for a detailed report on this or any other Edmonton neighbourhood

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Larkspur Housing Sales Report - Larkspur Edmonton Homes For Sale

Posted on December 18, 2012 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

Larkspur is situated east of the Mill Woods neighbourhoods and south of Whitemud Drive. It is bounded by Whitemud Drive to the north, 17th Street to the east, 38th Avenue to the south, and 34th Street to the west. The neighbourhood began
developing in the late 1980s, and was still actively under construction in the 2000s. The residential component of the
neighbourhood is predominated by single detached housing. Velma E. Baker School and Larkspur Park are located in the centre of the neighbourhood. Larkspur was named after an ornamental wildflower plant that blooms in many colours. All neighbourhoods in the Meadows area are named after plants and flowers.

Reporting Period: January 1, 2012 – November 30, 2012

Summary of single family homes sold in community of Larkspur:

Total number of Single Family homes sold: 39
Average home selling price: $358,573
Average selling price per square foot: $253.14
Average days on the Market: 36 days

Search Edmonton Homes for sale in Larkspur - Currently listed on MLS

Find out the value of your Larkspur Home - quick, easy, free and no obligations

Contact me for a detailed report on this or any other Edmonton neighbourhood

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Wild Rose Housing Sales Report - Wild Rose Edmonton Homes For Sale

Posted on December 14, 2012 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

Wild Rose neighbourhood, east of the Kiniski Gardens neighbourhood is located in Mill Woods. Mill Creek runs the length of the neighbourhood’s southern border and provides a significant natural asset for Wild Rose residents. Wild Rose features public access to Mill Creek and also incorporates a variety of other parks and open space corridors to provide excellent access to outdoor amenity space for residents. A central school and park site houses a public junior high school and provides a large open space within the neighbourhood for active recreation. Wild Rose contains a variety of housing types, including: single and semi-detached homes, row housing and apartments. Wild Rose is named for Alberta’s official flower, Rosa acicularis (wild rose), which has been this province’s official flower since the 1930s.

Reporting Period: January 1, 2012 – November 30, 2012

Summary of single family homes sold in community of Wild Rose:

Total number of Single Family homes sold: 94
Average home selling price: $389,908
Average selling price per square foot: $244.08
Average days on the Market: 45 days

Search Edmonton Homes for sale in Wild Rose - Currently listed on MLS

Find out the value of your Wild Rose Home - quick, easy, free and no obligations

Contact me for a detailed report on this or any other Edmonton neighbourhood

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Silver Berry Housing Sales Report - Silver Berry Edmonton Homes For Sale

Posted on December 13, 2012 by Bill Bhamra, REALTOR® Edmonton Homes for Sale

Silver Berry neighbourhood is adjacent to the Bisset neighbourhood in Mill Woods. Mill Creek runs the length of the neighbourhood’s northern border and provides a significant natural asset for Silver Berry residents. In addition to Mill Creek, the neighbourhood is bounded by 17th Street to the east, 23rd Avenue to the south, and 34th Street to the west. Prior to urban development the southern portion of Silver Berry was used for agricultural cultivation and the northern portion of the neighbourhood, adjacent to Mill Creek, was left in its natural state. Silver Berry features public access to Mill Creek and also incorporates a variety of other parks and open space corridors to provide excellent access to outdoor amenity space for residents. Silver Berry contains a variety of housing types, including: single and semi-detached homes, row housing and apartments. A large school and park site is located in the centre of the neighbourhood, adjacent to a linear park and surrounded by residential land use. Silver Berry is named after a shrub that bears grayish-white berries. All neighbourhoods within the Meadows are named after local flora.

Reporting Period: January 1, 2012 – November 30, 2012

Summary of single family homes sold in community of Silver Berry: