The real estate market in the area has shown signs of cooling off after a period of rapid activity,
Westlock and Barrhead saw a slight decrease in residential sales so far this year, compared with last year, according to a report released by the Realtors Association of Edmonton (RAE). There were 32 in sales in Barrhead in 2024, compared with 34 for the same time frame last year. Westlock also saw a slight decrease in 2024 with 39 residential sales compared with 41 the year prior.
“It’s slowing down a little bit this month,” said real estate agent Trent Muller, who has listings in Westlock County, Westlock, Sturgeon County, Barrhead County, Lac St. Anne County, and Thorhild County, as well as in Edmonton and St. Albert.
“They have slowed down as of the last few days but they were pretty brisk up until the end of June or into July slightly,” Muller said on July 9.
Even though the market has cooled slightly, June’s sales were still 10 per cent higher than the same time last year, according to RAE. Overall, the inventory in the GEA increased 1.9 per cent in June from May, but is still 15.9 per cent lower than June 2023.
“Places like Morinville, St. Albert, Spruce Grove and Stony Plain are probably stronger than Westlock,” said Muller. “We sometimes get a ripple effect. The slowdowns cause greater slowdowns in Edmonton than in Westlock or Westlock County.”
Part of the decrease is due to seasonal changes, Muller pointed out.
“It’s summer and people are busy with weddings, weekends and graduations and it kind of distracts people from looking at properties for a short time.”
Even though sales have slowed, prices remain strong, according to RAE.
“Our average prices don’t seem to be declining,” said Melanie Boles, RAE board chair. “In fact, prices actually increased in the semi-detached and condo market, which could indicate those properties are attractive to investors at the moment.”
In neighbouring areas such as Barrhead, the market surged earlier this year, said Muller.
“Barrhead’s market accelerated earlier than Westlock’s this year. It seemed like it had a little bit of shot in the arm earlier than Westlock.”
This was driven by affordability and less influence of city trends, he said.
Shannon Carleton, Owner/Broker of Barrhead Remax said they have had a busy year.
“We have been selling homes that are priced right, they sell quick," said Carleton. “We have the least amount of listings at a time ever that I have been in business.
“It is has been an interesting year," she added. "Things are selling fast and we don’t have a lot to sell.”
Charles Parson, Sunnyside Realty owner/broker, agreed.
“It has been a comfortable year, selling within 30 to 60 days," he said. "There is no supply and more demand.”
Muller said the Edmonton market has seen brisk activity.
“I have been showing properties in St. Albert and in Edmonton lately but mainly just condos. I do know that from other realtors the Edmonton market is really brisk.”
Single family dwellings, if they are half-decent, are getting multiple offers, up to 10 offers on one property within days of being listed, said Muller.
Currently, there is a notable housing shortage, particularly of properties priced between $120,000 to $220,000, as well as country residential homes ranging from $250,000 to $600,000, said Muller.
Market trends are also dependent on interest rates.
“When the interest rate goes up the market goes down a bit,” said Muller, adding however that because of the population growth the interest rate didn’t cool and ease the market as much as anyone thought it would.
Looking ahead, there will likely be a slow steady price appreciation the next couple of years in Westlock and the greater Edmonton area driven by sustained population growth and stabilized interest rates.
“Of course, that can change,” said Muller. “If the Bank of Canada raises interest rates it could cause a little cooling again.
“The market value of properties in Westlock and area is increasing,” he added. “It could cool off until fall now but it did increase in the last six months.”
To address the shortage, the cost of building needs to drop so the affordability of new housing can improve, said Muller.
“One thing that is happening, and it’s kind of sad, more people are going into rental situations and less into ownership.”
This increases the population density in some areas with the creation of basement suites, four-plexes and larger multi-unit complexes.
In response, various levels of government have implemented strategies to ease the shortage, said Muller, pointing out that Westlock changed zoning on one large lot on 102 Street to allow construction of a four-plex and is working with some developers to make it more appealing for buyers and multi-family investors.
In addition, CMHC has implemented programs to allow buyers of new multi-family investments a lower down payment through its MLI select program.
Parsons said the Town of Barrhead could help with the shortage.
“If the town put more money into senior housing more people would be moving out of their homes into senior housing.”
Regardless, there are no easy or quick fixes to the market, he said.
“It will take a couple of years to recover from the population growth, for the developers to build enough sub-divisions and builders to build enough homes in those subdivisions to deal with the onslaught of people coming in,” said Muller.
