In July the housing sales in Fort McMurray went up close to 50% over July of 2015 according to the recently released statistics from Fort McMurray Realtors. Last month there were 133 housing units sold on the market, and this included mobile homes, townhouses, and condominiums. In July of 2015 there were only 90 housing units sold. The fire did delay some sales, but it was also a motivating factor behind sales as well. Lynn Edwards, the president of Fort McMurray Realtors, said “We’re having people that are selling their home and moving to another home, larger or smaller. And then you have a buyer that has been affected by their [fire] loss. We’ve seen an increase in the average price for the last two, three, four months but that’s just because people are buying.”

One reason for the July increase in housing sales in Fort McMurray is that some buyers have been ready to make a purchase but were waiting for the best time. Another reason is that some of the listings for homes on the market expired during the evacuation period, and these homes have now been relisted. Edwards explained “So they were up for sale pre-fire, and then you’re going to see them come back on in July, some of them.” The housing market and economy are both stable in Fort McMurray right now, and housing unit prices are still low when compared to the average price last year for the same time period which makes purchasing a home right now a smart move to some.