The 2023 Spring Market in the Greater Edmonton area is heating up. The March Statistics are in, and the current data is showing a significant increase from this time last year in the number of homes available for sale. And, at Rost Real Estate, our Team is also experiencing an increase in the number of active buyers. Though we don’t personally foresee a return to the frenzied environment of 2022, we have noticed that there’s a bit of a “backlog” when it comes to intentional buyers. What do we mean by backlog? We’re happy to explain.
Last year we saw the inflation numbers begin to soar, which in turn led the Bank of Canada to increase the prime lending rate in order to slow its growth. The result: Potential buyers had to work with the new lending rates by adjusting their home search in one of three ways.
The First option was to lower the total amount they were planning to spend on a property in order to keep their budgeted mortgage payment amount the same.
The second was to review their monthly spending habits and choose to adjust their current expenses in order to maintain their chosen price point.
The third option is the one that resulted in the current backlog of potential buyers. With the economic outlook of 2022 a bit unsettled, these buyers decided to take the “Wait and See” approach, choosing to delay their move into home ownership altogether.
Truthfully, there are really only 2 options available to us when it comes to putting a solid roof over our heads; we are either going to enter the Real Estate Market to Rent a Home, or to Buy a Home.
Now, with the first three months of 2023 in the rear-view mirror, we’ve seen the lending rates steady, and in some cases, mortgage rates have even moved lower. Which has resulted in a flurry of activity as the buyers who were previously waiting have decided it’s time to Spring into Action.
If you’ve decided Now is the time to take action and enter the Spring Real Estate Market, send us a note, we’d be happy to chat about Your Home Journey needs.
Sincerely,
The Rosts
INFORMATION HEREIN DEEMED RELIABLE BUT NOT GUARANTEED