Real Estate Blog

Happy New Year!

Give yourselves, and each other, a pat on the back for entering 2021 ready to take on new opportunities! Despite some challenges with showing properties, Canadian real estate activity remained very strong through 2020. Now that we’re moving toward a new era of optimism, 2021 looks like it could be a fun and productive year for real estate. 

Whether you plan to stay put and work from your current home or look for a new one with more square footage (so you can add an even more serious workspace), read on! You’ll love our 10 Tips for an Awesome Home Office. Some of the advice -- lots of light, good storage and some style and personality -- is just as relevant for a personal gym or workout zone. 

If you’re planning to sell or buy soon, check out the 2021 predictions for real estate activity, with percentage price increase expectations for your market. Let’s talk!

I can ensure your property gets strong exposure online and off… and I know what’s out there right now in terms of places that might be a perfect fit for you as you move toward new chapters in your lives. 

Let’s make it happen!

Total Year-to-date Residential Sales up to close out 2020

Total residential unit sales in the Greater Edmonton Area (GEA)* real estate market for December 2020 increased 31.47% compared to December 2019 and decreased 20.65% from November 2020. The number of new residential listings is down year over year, decreasing 0.15% from December 2019. New residential listings are down month over month, decreasing 29.59% from November 2020. Overall inventory in the GEA fell 17.29% from December of last year...READ MORE.

The work-from-home (WFH) trend is here to stay. Here’s how to make it as cool as can be!

Design your space to fit your work style. 
Side hustle or skyrocketing commercial enterprise? You’ll need to decide whether to 1) add an office nook to your kitchen; 2) convert your guest room to a profit centre or 3) buy an Airstream Globetrotter (bus-like RV) and park your new home-office-on-wheels in the driveway for easier shipping and receiving! 

Fill it with as much light as possible. 
Light boosts productivity. Natural light from windows and skylights scores highest and, if you’ve got that going, add living plants for more oxygen, too. Otherwise, fill-er up with fixtures and stock up on lightbulbs!

Save your back. 
Splurge on an ergonomic, high-performance captain’s chair. You’re going to spend hours in it, so take full control of your own comfort and health.

Give yourself serious surface space. 
A cluttered, old desk or table – with no room for everything you’re working on – leads to a messy business. You’re serious about your business, right?

Try a stand-up desk. 
Going vertical could heighten your productivity! These come in two varieties: High-end furniture pieces and makeshift inventions. You decide. You’re the boss here, after all. If you want to use a bar-cart, that could work.

Connect with high-speed Internet. 
Your customers & community expect it. This is now the era of empowering Zoom meetings and seamless e-commerce. Think fast!

Set up sensible storage, so you can really organize your stuff. 
Use drawers, a filing cabinet, even an entire wall of storage compartments to ensure everything has its place and you can quickly find whatever you need.

Give your space style & personality. 
Dress it up for Zoom video calls! Feel good – and help others feel good – about you, your company and your brand. Don’t forget to add inspirational artwork!

Avoid merging work & leisure in one zone, if possible. 
At worst, it’s a recipe for disaster (think spills and equipment getting wrecked). At best, it’s still an intrusion on either 1) work productivity or 2) leisure-time fun.

Get some of the latest, greatest home office furniture & devices. 
Check out the new wall-beds (aka Murphy beds) with desks. This is a great idea for guest room – office conversions. And then some.

What can we expect to see happening with Edmonton real estate in 2021? That depends who you ask. 

While we wait for the annual expert reviews and predictions (usually in early February; watch for our coverage), we’ve mostly been hearing from economists and the realty firms that the 2021 activity and pricing across the country should be similar to 2020 or “up” slightly. That means a price increase of somewhere between 4% and 6% nationally according to some. Here in Edmonton, it should translate to about 2%, putting the YEG average price somewhere in the high-300’s. 

Factors currently shaping the real estate market here include COVID-19, low interest rates, oversupply of apartment-style condos (downward pull-on overall pricing) and continued strong demand for single family homes with more space for offices and gyms, large, fenced yards for dogs, kids and food gardens. 

Thinking of listing? Right now, could be a great time to do so! Looking for a new place with more space (for the swanky home office and gym)? I know where you can find it.

If you want to surround yourself with the natural beauty of Edmonton’s river valley, take a look at Riverdale. This neighbourhood is often described as being one of the city’s most attractive. 

Enclosed by the North Saskatchewan River to the east and south, and by the high cliffs of the valley on the west and north, it is a well-established community on a large, flat area about a mile away from the downtown core. Originally settled more than 100 years ago, it was the site of heavy industry, with coal mining, brick manufacturing and a lumber mill. Today, many character homes remain, along with a small church and brick school in a setting full of mature trees. 

Parks near Riverdale include Allan Stein, Dawson, and Louise McKinney Riverfront Park. The nicely-landscaped Riverside Golf Club is here, too. Like other close-to-the-core communities, Riverdale real estate ranges from entry level condos and half-duplexes (still very stylish and comfortable) to luxurious single-family homes on multi-acre lots, many with great views.

Wow. There goes 2020. In times like this, it’s sometimes easy to forget that we still have much to be grateful about. If you and your loved ones are safe and well, that’s reason to celebrate! Many people across the planet have been less fortunate. 

This year, our homes became the most important places in the world. Many of us transformed them, adding home offices, personal gyms and comfy zones where we could retreat to relax. In the process of re-imagining the spaces in which we live, many of us have realized how lucky we are. We’ve deep-cleaned, re-organized and re-connected with our homes and the people with whom we share them. Some of you decided this year that it’s time for a change. Despite the difficult circumstances, you started looking for a new home with more space and privacy, somewhere even safer. You’re not alone. 

As real estate agents, we’ve talked to many of you in recent months about your plans for the future. We’ve heard a lot of uncertainty. You asked us to help answer tough questions such as whether you should postpone plans to move… or get out there and go online to keep looking for a new home. You wondered when it would be a good time to list. My response to these questions was that “only you can answer them.” I’m here to help, though! 

As we move toward 2021, I pledge to do that by continuing to listen. I’ll give you my best advice regarding the market, available properties and pricing. And I’ll connect you with the best support professionals to help you buy and sell. 

Please reach out to me for a conversation this holiday season and tell me about your vision for the New Year. 

Happy Holidays!

1. Bake like a mother...or a grandmother! There's nothing better than Christmas cookies or a tasty pie to get everyone around your home feeling festive during these trying times.

2. Fill your house with music. It doesn't have to be Christmas tunes but there are some good ones you might not have heard for a while. They're all on YouTube.

3. If your dream is to sell or buy real estate in December 2020, keep that dream alive! Imagine this: "Honey, open your eyes and look at what I bought you for Christmas (It's a new home)!"

4. Light up your property! That "For Sale" sign out front can look even better with some light (or a string of lights) on it. Throw some coloured floodlights onto trees in the yard while you’re at it!

5. Deep clean your home, streamline your stuff and open your closets to charity! You'll feel good and you'll make someone else's holidays great. Cleaner is safer right now.

6. Watch Christmas movies with themes of love and giving and get into the spirit of the season.

7. Buy a batch of old-fashioned holiday greeting cards, write them and send them the old-school way via Canada Post. Don't procrastinate!

8. Connect online via Zoom for LIVE gift exchange parties, karaoke craziness and eggnog (alcoholic and/or non).

9. Drive! Visit neighbourhoods you've never seen before to check out the lights and decorations. Get out-of-town and see snow-capped peaks from the highways at dusk. This is peak season for Northern Lights, too!

10. Stock up on firewood or buy a portable, fuel-burning fire-pit for the yard and keep the home fires burning. If you’re in an apartment condo, set the mood with the fire log channel on TV. Here comes 2021!

For many years, the Edmonton community of Crestwood, with its canopy of snowy branches, has been known during the holidays as Candy Cane Lane. It’s visited from sunset to midnight by families from across the city and beyond. Why? 

Because every year, beginning some time in November, the entire neighbourhood (meaning every household) decorates the outsides of their homes with lights of every colour and configuration, filling the area with the joyful spirit of the season. And every year, local businesses, residents and visitors donate food items and other gifts to the Edmonton Food Bank for those less fortunate. 

From its official website at yegcandycanelane.com: “It not only serves as a source of pure joy for all who pass by, but also a welcomed oasis for the less fortunate and those with health challenges, including children at the Stollery Children's Hospital, patients from the Cross Cancer Institute and countless retirement and extended care homes.”

Communities close to valley ravines in the River City (Edmonton) are popular with active families and with anyone who wants an urban lifestyle enhanced by some nearby nature. With spectacular, tree-filled MacKinnon Ravine as its southern boundary, Grovenor (which used to be called Westgrove) fits the bill. A quiet area, it runs east-west from 142 to 149 Streets NW and north from the ravine to 107 Ave NW. 

There are great cycling paths here, as well as many slightly rougher hiking trails. Many residents use the paths to take their young families to the shopping zone in the southeast corner of the neighbourhood, on a street across from the ravine. There’s high-end coffee available there, as well as family dining at the Tasty Tomato Italian Restaurant (a local fixture). As well, the area features many retail shops that sell equipment and apparel to sports enthusiasts and fitness buffs. There’s one school and one church in the community, both also easily accessible to residents on foot. 

When people do climb into their cars around here, Stony Plain Road runs directly to downtown, West Edmonton Mall is to the west and Anthony Henday Drive connects to the rest of the city.

As 2020 begins to wind down and winter closes in, many people this year are re-thinking their work and their day-to-day lives. This was bound to happen right about now. There are so many baby boomers exiting the workforce and settling into retirement (early or otherwise), but the trend has certainly been accelerated by this global pandemic we’re in. 

As your agent, I can tell you that many people are re-considering their primary homes and their real estate portfolios at the moment. Because almost everyone has been forced to work from home, you’ve all been spending far more time there than usual and, now, many of you are wondering if this is the way it’s going to stay. As a result, you’re asking: “Is now a good time for us to sell our current property and search for a new one – with more space and more privacy… for health and safety's sake?” You’re not alone. 

This last summer and into the fall, luxury properties (distanced, and with more square footage for home offices and gyms) have been selling extremely well. Check out our first feature article for more details. 

As your agent, it’s my job to help you get the timing right and list your home when there’s a good chance it’ll sell quickly at a decent price. I also see it as my responsibility to help you keep your dreams alive… including finding that perfect property for the next phase of your life. 

I’m here for you -- even (or especially) during these unprecedented times – to help you make the right decisions for you and your family when it comes to one of the biggest investments in your lives: your real estate. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to me this fall.

Affluent buyers seeking more land and more privacy.  

Western Canada’s 2020 luxury property market continues to exceed expectations with all kinds of activity, ironically, as a result of the times we’re in. Yes, it’s a financially challenging year for most of us. But with the call for social distancing and the work-from-home trend, people who can afford it are buying larger homes in the suburbs, away from the urban density. Mortgage rates are low at the moment in Canada and these affluent buyers usually have no problem qualifying. 

Across the country this summer and fall, there has been increased demand for expensive vacation homes and large, suburban properties with more land and more privacy. Properties in the “luxury” category sell at about three times the average home price in the market. Calgary and Edmonton luxury properties start at about $1.5 Million right now. What does that get you? 

In any of these markets a detached, single family home in the “entry-level luxury category” has at least twice the square footage, extra space for gyms and spas, home offices and sprawling, restaurant-grade kitchens with (for example) Molteni, Sub-Zero, Wolf or Gaggenau appliances. The kitchen will almost certainly feature an island, possibly topped with Italian Carrara marble and a sink boasting crystal faucet handles (or no handles at all). Your bathroom might feature a tub carved by Japanese company Stone Forest from a block of granite! For the luxury price, you’ll get an expansive, open floorplan with beautiful hardwood, tile or marble floors, standalone indoor fire features, soaring ceilings, modern chandeliers and massive, high-end windows with tint control or automated blinds. In Edmonton, luxury property views feature might be the North Saskatchewan River Valley. All of the above is pretty much a given at the low end of the luxury category! If you’ve got the cash, you might like a spec-built mega mansion with wraparound deck and infinity pool plus two-lane tunnel to the underground supercar garage with elevator to the rooftop helicopter pad. 

These abodes do exist in Western Canada. They’re priced in the tens of millions of dollars. Worldwide, in the hottest markets, that price skyrockets into the hundreds of millions! 

“The Canadians who went off to war in distant lands went in the belief that the values… enjoyed by Canadians were being threatened. They truly believed that "without freedom there can be no ensuring peace and without peace no enduring freedom."

You’ll find these words on the Veterans Affairs Canada website, which also reminds us to pause in a silent moment of remembrance on November 11 for the men and women who have served and continue to serve our country during war, conflict and peace. More than 2.3 million Canadians fought in World War I (1914 to 1918), WWII (1939 to 1845), the Korean War (1950 to 1953) and other conflicts. More than 118,000 Canadians have died. We often say they made the “ultimate sacrifice.” This Remembrance Day, let us remember again that our fallen soldiers went into battle to win. Let us reflect on the reality that, in World War victory -- not defeat -- those we honour with our “silent moment of remembrance” have ensured the survival of Canada’s values and our freedom. 

In Many Canadian cities, you’ll find sizable, upscale neighbourhoods close to downtown with mature trees and large homes on expansive properties. Many of the homes are historic, built when these areas were near the edge of town before the suburbs sprang up. Glenora in Edmonton is one of these communities. 

With quick access to the city centre, it’s also very close to the North Saskatchewan River valley with its miles of unspoiled natural beauty, hiking trails and bike paths. MacKinnon Ravine Park (in the river valley) features all of this nature… and picnic sites, too! There’s plenty of good shopping nearby, just down Stony Plain Rd NW. And there are four schools in the neighbourhood: Glenora Elementary, Westminster Junior High, St. Vincent Catholic Elementary and the Progressive Academy. 

Glenora runs east-west from Groat Rd to 142 St and north-south from 107 Ave to the North Saskatchewan River Valley and the MacKinnon Ravine. Adjacent neighbourhoods include Westmount, North Glenora, McQueen and Grovenor and Crestwood.