Could 2025 be on track for another record year of homes activity?

Edmonton is poised for another record year of new homes activity.

Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. statistics released in late November show that October starts grew almost five per cent year over year, and increased nearly 22 per cent year to date.

As of Oct. 31, the city had seen 17,989 starts.

“We’re likely going to push past that record number of starts for all of 2024,” says Taylor Pardy, lead economist for the Prairies for CMHC. Last year was a record for activity with 18,384 starts, surpassing the previous record set in 1978 when 17,065 starts occurred driven by unprecedented levels of purpose-built rental activity.

A more recent high watermark previous to 2024 for new construction activity was in 2017 when 17,050 starts took place in the city.

The majority of activity this year has been focused on new homes for ownership with 48 per cent of starts being single-family detached, semi-detached and row homes, year to date. Another 10 per cent of housing starts was condominiums.

Purpose-built rentals accounted for 42 per cent of starts.

Yet Pardy notes signs of a slowdown among new homes in October also emerged.

“We’re seeing higher inventories in the single-detached and townhome segments.”

In turn, builders have reacted with single-family detached home starts (526) falling 16 per cent in October year over year. That said, starts (5,805) were still up more than three per cent, year to date.

As well, row (252) starts fell nearly two per cent year over year. Again, starts (2,545) for the housing segment were up nearly 16 per cent on a year to date basis.

Semi-detached and apartment starts still grew year over year. Semi-detached (116 starts) increased about 26 per cent. And 1,278 starts for the segment marked a nearly 23 per cent rise, year to date.

Apartment starts (611) in October grew nearly 33 per cent year over year. The 8,361 starts year to date marked a 41 per cent increase.

Pardy says the high level of apartment construction activity is likely to continue into 2026 as many projects were planned a few years ago when demand was rising quickly. In turn, it’s common for projects to add new supply even after market conditions shift, he says.

Detached and row home builders, in contrast, can adjust more quickly as they have done amid rising unabsorbed units.

In October, the Edmonton market had 1,432 new and unabsorbed single-family detached homes, up more than 28 per cent year over year. That is the highest increase among new housing types.

“Many builders are pulling back on spec-built homes,” says Don Patterson, managing partner/broker at Re/Max Excellence in Edmonton.

These homes, built without a purchasing contract, face a challenge of typically having a higher price tag than comparable resale market homes, he adds.

CMHC data shows that the average price of a newly absorbed single-family detached home was $645,690 in October, up about one per cent year over year.

By comparison, the average price of a resale single-family detached home was $559,585, also up about one per cent from 2024, Realtors Association of Edmonton statistics show.

“Overall, the big attraction for Edmonton continues to be its affordability,” Patterson says. “We’re continuing to see people from Toronto and Vancouver, and even Calgary” where the price of an absorbed, new single-family detached home was more than $890,000 in October.

Pardy says Edmonton likely would see more demand for new detached homes but prices, despite being comparably less than in Calgary, remain a challenge especially for first-time buyers.

“If there were new detached homes under $400,000, demand would be huge, but builders can’t construct homes for that price.”