The Edmonton Real Estate Blog, Market Information, Advise & Opinion

There are some people in the world who refuse to buy real estate until the price drops to the absolute lowest point. They argue that if prices are falling, wouldn't it make more sense to wait for them to fall more? If prices have fallen for the past four months then someone who bought in July could have saved ten thousand dollars just by waiting a couple of months.

REALTORS® know that price is not the only determinant as to when to buy real estate. Changes in lifestyle (birth of a child, marriage, graduation, first job, retirement, etc.) are usually what spur people to enter the market. Finding the right home in the right location with the right amenities is what makes the sale happen. Once you have bought the monthly fluctuations in price are theoretical until you decide to sell. Although prices "on average" have dropped that does not mean that a purchase in July was ill advised or that the value of a particular property dropped as well.

The theoretical July purchaser is probably very happy in their new home because it met their other criteria (location and amenities). When prices rise again (as they will when the Alberta boom sneaks up on us again) they will be very happy with the increase in equity when they sell and never notice that at some periods of their ownership the market prices dipped.