The Realtors Association of Edmonton forecasted “restrained” growth on the resale housing market for 2013 in the Oil City. This comes after continued economic and housing growth in 2012, which is something  expected to continue through this year.

An article published in the Edmonton Journal says the REA has projected single-family home prices to increase by 2 per cent, growing to $390,020 up from $383,373, while the price of condominiums will increase by 1 per cent to an average of $237,829, up from 2012’s $235,474.

Also in REA’s report, the number of homes changing hands should increase by 3 per cent.

This comes after a fine 2012, when residential prices rose 5.4 per cent rose over 2011, and saw a 6.8 percent increase in sales over 2011.

The increase of home sales and home starts has a lot to do the new residents. Since 2009, an average of 12,000 new residents have made Edmonton its new home, according to the Edmonton Journal and the City of Edmonton.

So why the “restrained” label on the forecast? Economic uncertainty in other parts of the world and even in other major Canadian cities like Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal might have people in a rent first mindset. Also, the new mortgage regulations from the summer of 2012 will continue to have Edmonton first-time home buyers feeling restrained.

But some growth is better than none at all.

“Unless there are unforeseen external influences, there is very little possibility of any cliffs, bounces or bubbles,” said Darrell Cook, new president of the Realtors’ group in the EJ.

Post written by Alexis Hlady