09/22/2025
• Central Alberta MLS residential sales for the two weeks of September are down significantly compared to the same time in August. It would be logical to expect that when sales go down, listings would increase, but that’s not the case. The number of active listings are actually down as well. How to explain? If we look at historical data in central Alberta for the past forty years, the number of listings and sales peak in the spring and gradually fall off going into the summer, fall and winter, so this is a completely normal trend.
• The most important statistic is the relationship between the number of active listings (supply) and the number of sales (demand) that show the health of the market. The ideal market is balanced, where neither sellers or buyers have an advantage. Since Covid the central Alberta market has consistently been a seller’s market causing prices to rise. There comes a point where those increased prices are not achievable for many buyers. That’s the time when demand will fall off and prices will level off.
• Interest rates are a third component of the equation, effectively raising prices when they go down. In a market like ours where the demand is still strong with a growing population and new home construction not keeping up with growth, lower interest rates make it possible for buyers to pay more, keeping prices stable.
