Edmonton is expected to see a dip in housing prices in 2018, according to a forecast by Royal LePage Market Survey Forecast.
The real estate company predicts home prices in the city will drop by 1.5 per cent in 2018. The report released Wednesday morning anticipates the average home price will end the year at $382,180, down from $388,000 in 2017.
“The buyer has a lot more power than they had in a long time,” said Tom Shearer, broker and owner, Royal LePage Noralta.
He said most buyers in Edmonton are those who already live in the city and have been here for at least a few years.
They fall into three groups, he said, including those who moved to Edmonton after the last big wave of migration between 2012 and 2014, people between the ages of 26 and 28 and the “move up” buyer who wants a bigger house.
Edmonton’s economy has stabilized, but the region has not seen a significant improvement in employment, which is needed to lift home prices, Eddie Tabakman, spokesman for Royal LePage, said in a news release Tuesday.
The beginning of the year will see slower sales as buyers who do not meet new federal financing criteria temporarily move to the sidelines, Tabakman said. However, sales for the full year are expected to be similar to or slightly higher than 2017 levels, he said.
Shearer said the best deals in town are condos, as they are the most affordable and their sellers are willing to negotiate the most.
“The best advice I can give a seller in Edmonton is to make sure your pricing is very accurate,” Shearer said. “Buyers expect to negotiate within two to three per cent, and if you are outside that range, they just move on.”
Across the country, home prices in 53 key Canadian cities are expected to increase an average of 4.9 per cent by the end of 2018.
Toronto and Vancouver are expected to see prices climb steadily and steeply, seeing increases of 6.8 per cent and 5.2 per cent, respectively, it said.
Calgary is also expected to see a 2.3 per cent increase in home prices, according to the forecast.
“A lot of us will be looking back at 2017 and 2018 and saying to ourselves, ‘That may have been a really good time to buy … We had a great amount of selection, prices are very reasonable and sellers are willing to negotiate,’ ” Shearer said.
halam@postmedia.com