Edmonton’s norm-core homes: Average prices are rising amid high-demand

Edmonton’s average homes are anything but that when compared with other larger markets.

Yet the city’s ‘norm-core’ single-family detached homes (offering arguably hardcore value relative to major cities) are indeed on trend among buyers, resulting high demand and increasingly low supply.

“The market is still price sensitive, and what I mean by that is if you’re pricing a home 20 per cent over market value, buyers are still going to hem and haw a little bit, and it might take longer to get an offer,” says Tom Shearer, broker/owner of Royal LePage Noralta Real Estate.

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But the nothing-fancy, two-storey, attached-garage home listed near the average price will sell quickly, he adds.

As of late January, market data revealed that the most sought-after homes in the Edmonton market continue to be single-family detached homes with an average price of about $558,000.

These homes, however, are increasingly rare.

He notes that the city only had about seven listings around the average price in late January.

All were two-storey homes with attached garages, ranging from 1,700 to 2,100 square feet. As well, they were located in newer neighbourhoods far from the city’s centre.

“That same kind of home in a more mature neighbourhood would be more expensive,” he adds.

Even in older communities, buyers can still get a single-family home around the average price — though they have smaller floor plans and older builds, says Drew Carlson, realtor with Drew Carlson Real Estate Group, eXp Realty.

“You can still find a nice, renovated house (bungalow) in Edmonton for $550,000 that’s about 1,000 square feet.”

Demand for single-family homes had waned when interest rates moved higher in 2022 and 2023, but 2024 saw a rebound with near record sales with 16,711 transactions, up nearly 25 per cent for 2023, Realtors Association of Edmonton statistics show.

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Only 2021, when rates were at historical lows, outpaced single-family home demand in the last five years. For comparison, the next most active segment in Edmonton were apartments with 4,649 transactions last year. It had a banner year, too, with sales up almost 30 per cent year over year.

All housing types combined, the city saw record sales in 2024 (28,579 transactions).

At the same time, the average price for a single-family home has pushed higher, also reaching record heights. At the end of 2024, the single-family detached home average price in Edmonton was $536,297, an increase of nine per cent from 2023. Compared with 2020, the average price has grown about 22 per cent.

Although prices have moved higher, the price for the normal single-family home is still attainable compared with larger markets, as a recent study by Royal LePage lays out.

Edmonton’s average single-family detached home price is forecast to jump 12 per cent this year, tops among major cities. Still, its forecast price, which is about $554,00 and already potentially surpassed by the end of January, pales in comparison to even Calgary.

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“We’re still a couple of hundred thousand dollars if not more behind Calgary,” Carlson says.

There, the average price is expected to reach $836,000 this year. Prices are even higher outside Alberta and also expected to rise this year. In Ottawa, the average single-family detached home price is forecast to reach more than $935,000.

Vancouver’s average prices for single-family homes already exceeds $1.7 million and forecast to grow two per cent. In Toronto, the average price is expected to rise seven per cent exceeding $1.5 million.

By comparison, Edmonton’s market seems like a deal, Shearer says, albeit competition is high for those “normie” homes.

“If it’s priced right at market value, chances are it will see multiple offers.”

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