{"id":536545,"date":"2026-03-14T20:12:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-14T20:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/536545\/"},"modified":"2026-03-14T20:12:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-14T20:12:12","slug":"edmontons-new-homes-market-expected-to-see-less-activity-this-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/536545\/","title":{"rendered":"Edmonton’s new homes market expected to see less activity this year"},"content":{"rendered":"

The record-breaking new homes construction is unlikely to continue as Edmonton\u2019s population boom subsides, and other demand pressures ease. A recent report<\/a> from Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. last month predicts moderating activity for this year through to 2028 as inventory grows on the new homes and resale sides of the market.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll start to see a bit of moderation in the pace of starts,\u201d says Taylor Pardy, lead economist for the Prairies at CMHC.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s particularly the case for one of the most active sectors: purpose-built rental multi-family.<\/p>\n

\u201cSimilarly, ground-oriented housing \u2014 single-family detached, semi-detached and townhome \u2014 are seeing higher inventories\u2026 just purely based on supply outpacing demand,\u201d he adds.<\/p>\n

Edmonton has seen two years of record-breaking housing starts with last year\u2019s 21,337 starts smashing the previous record set in 2024 of 18,384 starts. That was driven in large part by high population growth as Alberta experienced record net migration post-pandemic. Over the past year, migration has returned to levels not seen since the late 2010s when the economy slumped.<\/p>\n

This year, starts are forecast to go either way, CMHC\u2019s report notes. The low forecast is 16,500 starts \u2014 still high by historical measures. But the high forecast is for 24,500 stats \u2014 which would be another annual record.<\/p>\n

CMHC statistics from January point to a low starts scenario as more of a likelihood. Starts were down about 19 per cent from January 2025.<\/p>\n

As well, units under construction \u2014 two-thirds of which are apartment style \u2014 fell below levels for the past three months.<\/p>\n

Most development involves purpose-built rentals, Pardy says.<\/p>\n

In contrast, \u201con the apartment condo side, it was just starting to recover after a decade of elevated supply,\u201d he says. \u201cWe started seeing more projects underway, and Edmonton is less vulnerable\u201d to over-supply risk.<\/p>\n

Condominium projects remain a rarity in the region. CMHC January numbers show about 43 per cent of starts were rental with only 10 per cent condominiums, which include townhomes.<\/p>\n

The outlook from February also points to rising vacancy that is likely to give developers pause. Last fall, vacancy was 3.8 per cent, up from 3.1 in 2024 and 2.4 in 2023.<\/p>\n

Vacancy is forecast to climb to 4.5 per cent this year and five per cent in 2027.<\/p>\n

One trend among developers and builders amid growing uncertainty about the market has been to bring smaller projects to market. These are easier to sell out, says Jasmine Young, vice-president of advisory at Zonda, a consultancy and market data firm tracking Canada\u2019s multi-family sector.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s much more of a townhouse market,\u201d she says about its new multi-family for ownership. These housing projects involve more control for developers than other multi-family in how many units they want to bring to market at a given time, she adds.<\/p>\n

In the Edmonton region, 44 townhome projects are underway, Zonda data shows, encompassing more than 2,800 units.<\/p>\n

By comparison, condominium concrete and wood-frame account for 12 projects involving about 1,000 units. Notably, the two condominium concrete projects are luxury with unit pricing exceeding $4 million on one of them downtown, Zonda numbers show.<\/p>\n

Young notes Edmonton\u2019s condominium apartment market is generally less active because the resale market has had little positive movement. What\u2019s more, the housing type is not considered an entry-point for first-time buyers like in Toronto and other markets, where buyers are often priced out of other housing types, she adds.<\/p>\n

\u201cEdmonton has such a strong rental market because you can still save for a down payment.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The record-breaking new homes construction is unlikely to continue as Edmonton\u2019s population boom subsides, and other demand pressures…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":536546,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194294],"tags":[49,48,11195,23752,209907,209841,209908],"class_list":["post-536545","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-edmonton","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-cmhc","tag-edmonton","tag-edmonton-region","tag-multi-family","tag-resale-market"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536545","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=536545"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/536545\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/536546"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=536545"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=536545"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=536545"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}