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Earlier this year we saw a huge wave of
people moving from Ontario primarily, to Airdrie and Alberta in general. One thing that I noticed was that a majority of the people coming from Ontario loved new builds, and were only interested in new construction homes in the city and not anything on the resale market. This caused our builders to become super backed up with massive waitlists just to secure a home.
Being that there was such high demand, prices for new builds went through the roof even more than the resale market. It got to the point where builders could ask for any price and they would get it, because if buyer A wasn't willing to pay they'd move down the list and find someone who was.
As a realtor, I also noticed that builders were less inclined to work with realtors since they knew they could have all their builds sold and not have to pay a commission. Fair enough, they are a business and need to look after their bottom line. For a long time I didn't receive any updates from builders about upcoming projects or buyer incentives, but there has recently been a shift in this. They are now giving out these updates and even offering realtor bonus commission programs to incentivize realtors to bring them more clients.
Now don't get me wrong, builders are still quite busy, but this change in attitude shows me that it has slowed down for them. From talking to a few builders, most no longer have waitlists and build time has dropped below that 1 year mark for a detached home.
Now what we're seeing in pricing for these new constructions homes, is that their prices went up so fast and so much more than the resale market in the spring, that now that the market has cooled off, they have dropped more than the resale market. So, as a buyer this is definitely an opportunity to get into a new build at a better price than just 6 months ago.
You'll also be able to have realtor representation with your purchase which is very important, as your realtor has your best interest in mind. Especially if your from out of town, it's good to have a local realtor helping you, so they can check on the home and process throughout the build and things like that.
It's also crucial that your realtor is present at the first building meeting or registers you with the builder with them as your realtor. So, you'll want to reach out to your agent before the builder to narrow down models that you like and decide which builder is right for you.
If you want to know how much homes are selling for in specific neighbourhood, I provide a FREE monthly market report sent out by email. Click the button below to go fill out my market update request form!
We do have a lot of new communities being built and more on the way, so not matter what style of home you're looking for, you'll be able to find something that suits your needs right here in Airdrie. There are single family townhomes to duplexes to huge custom builds and everything in between.
Check out my YouTube video below where I go over everything in this blog post and subscribe to my channel if you want to see more Airdrie related content!
- Brad Walker
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