The effects of a cooling housing market are being felt across Canada, perhaps nowhere more than in Alberta at the moment.
Home sales in January fell nearly 26 per cent year-over year in Edmonton, reports the Edmonton Journal, making it the lowest January number in five years.
"The effects of significantly lower oil prices had already turned up in resale activity, with sales in Calgary and Edmonton down more than 40 per cent and 30 per cent respectively, from October to January," TD economic analyst Admir Kolaj noted in a press release earlier this week.
"Calgary had been on a decelerating streak since November. Today's data release indicates that cracks are also beginning to appear in Edmonton."
It's not all doom and gloom for Edmonton, however. The Realtors Association of Edmonton (RAE) says the price of a single-family home in February averaged $430,770 — a 1.17 per cent increase over February 2014's numbers.
RAE president Geneva Tetreault told the Edmonton Sun her group is also optimistic about sales numbers as winter months make way for spring.
"We are starting to see sales numbers increase as we enter the spring season. It is common to see sales start to ramp up in February," she said.
"It's a positive sign to see that even though listings are up and sales are down from last year that prices remain stable and even slightly up from February 2014."
Here's a look at some of the most expensive homes on the market right now in Edmonton, giving heat to the cooling house market.
With features like wine cellars, movie theatres and museum-like taxidermy displays, these homes are definitely bucking any average trends.
