Edmonton home sales and inventory climb with spring temperatures

Spring has sprung in Edmonton’s real estate market with a flood of new listings cropping up over April. But consecutive months of strong sales and few listings continue to put upward pressure on prices in all categories.

The Realtors Association of Edmonton’s (RAE) April housing update, released Friday, shows continued strong sales activity, increases in prices, and improving inventory in the city, indicating a busy spring market. However, after many months of upward sales activity coupled with relatively less new inventory, the housing stock has taken a beating, making the recent influx of homes a vital injection for the balance of the market. Association board chairwoman Darlene Reid said the city is going to need the inventory continue to rise to ease price pressure.

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“What’s interesting is we’ve seen inventory levels decline in the negative double digits for the better part of the last 12 months, and the dwindling supply has put pressure on home prices,” said Reid in the report.

“That pressure won’t alleviate unless this upward trend for inventory continues well past the busy season.”

With new residential listings totalling more than 4,000 compared to last year’s 3,900, Reid said April’s additions to the housing inventory marked a positive shift from an ongoing trend.

“April marked the first time in a while that our current inventory has been on par with or higher than last year’s levels,” she said.

Last month saw more than 2,700 residential units sold in the Greater Edmonton Area (GEA), which was a nine per cent increase from the month prior. Interestingly, despite the strength compared to this year’s activity, sales were actually 13 per cent less than April last year.

Home prices have risen steadily throughout the year, but the MLS home price Index didn’t change from March to April, and stayed at $438,100. While the price might not have changed from month to month, it was still up over 10 per cent from April 2024. The seemingly ever-rising price of homes in greater Edmonton has already affected the activity of different categories of homes, as buyers recalibrate their aim in the current market.

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For example, last month’s detached home sales were up more than 10 per cent from March, but down nearly 15 per cent from the previous year. Meanwhile, April 2024’s detached unit sales were 27 per cent higher than the previous month and more than 51 per cent higher than April 2023. Comparatively, semi-detached homes showed more consistency last month with 307 units sold, amounting to a more than 15 per cent increase from March and more than 11 per cent increase from last year.

The persistent activity in the market dropped the average days on the market to 30 in 2025 from 36 last year for all residential. The row/townhouse category leads the charge with a speedy average of just 26 days on the market. This time last year it was the semi-detached category that had the lowest average of days on the market at 29. While Edmonton’s housing market storms ahead, according to a recent Bank of Montreal (BMO) survey, it stands apart from real estate trends elsewhere in Canada.

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With fears of an economic recession rising from 60 to 74 per cent from March to April, BMO’s report indicates hesitancy in the market, predominantly in British Columbia and Southern Ontario.

“Canada’s housing market remained under pressure heading into the spring, with sales and prices both weakening further,” said Robert Kavcic, senior economist of BMO Capital Markets.

Unlike the activity shown in greater Edmonton, BMO’s report shows increased reliance by Canadians on the “bank of mom and dad,” a growing proportion of Canadians willing to buy a home with friends, family, or some other non-romantic person,  and 61 per cent who feel content renting.

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