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Growing supply and decreasing demand are helping create a buyer’s market for new homes in the Edmonton suburbs, show new figures from a real estate consulting firm.

The number of “spec” homes built before they’re sold rose to 2,430 last winter from 2,156 in the summer of 2016, while sales dropped about 20 per cent to 1,263 over the same period, according to Intelligence House research.

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That gave the city an oversupplied 2.3-year backlog of new homes, Intelligence House co-owner Alex Ruffini says.

“Technically, if you have too much supply in the market, that tends to drive prices down or you see lots of promotions … Builders are more willing to give more discounts or give deals,” he says.

“(Having 2.3 years) is not tremendously oversupplied, but the power is on the demand side right now.”

However, the situation around the city varies. The west end has almost three years’ supply of single-family houses, while on the south side the supply is 1.5 to 1.7 years, and across Edmonton only 1.5 years of duplexes exist before all the current inventory dries up.