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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says5 l' ?* O x4 U2 U
Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal
4 w4 |5 l" q7 h3 H4 f5 iPublished: 1:31 am& _' c) C' Z6 V4 W
EDMONTON - The buyer still reigns in Edmonton's housing market, where the number of homes for sale has skyrocketed by 268 per cent from a year ago.) Y E9 f. p; N- x* f
6 _! R0 f1 _- J6 b5 h9 WFigures released Thursday by the Realtors Association of Edmonton show there were 9,464 residential properties available in the city area -- up by a whopping 1,220 homes from February.
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4 F8 J+ M! `$ u& m) b( [) @( PThat's the third-largest inventory in Edmonton history. Only last September and October were there more homes for sale at month's end, 9,918 and 9,577 respectively.
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Association president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.4 E* [' W3 z3 \! o/ B8 J! e
) D- ~1 G8 B: ^1 L9 DNet migration to Alberta last year was 27,048. That's down significantly from 74,523 who moved here in 2006, according to Statistics Canada data.$ W; g3 @3 l9 d
1 i: t/ Z8 D) i$ M# I! {"We had an industry that ramped up, expecting that those numbers would keep up and now, as a result of that drop-off, we've seen inventory numbers come up fairly significantly," Perras said.- ~4 J& ]: |' x) J! V
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He predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.
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2 `, v3 N* ^$ q- B% f! W3 K. i- Y"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.
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"We saw quite a roller-coaster ride last year when prices jumped up significantly in the first six months and fell off significantly in the last six months."( p' H" ]5 T0 d
+ \- E; d; W' \6 n8 y1 t! d- T7 TA single-family home sold in March for an average price of $387,632, down 2.7 per cent from March last year.
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But the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.* z+ B1 g: P& C/ ?; x
7 M. s1 b. h( A' ]! }( zThere were 1,557 residential properties sold in March with new listings of 4,236 for a sales-to-listing ratio of 37 per cent. Homes spent 51 days on the market, down one day from last month., Q# T* Z, [. M' O1 p2 e
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Total MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.- Y% L$ L, [2 g$ [2 X: Y
! K' m$ t% S* E3 eMeanwhile, a house price survey released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services says Edmonton-area houses became more affordable in the first three months of 2008./ p& S$ o2 N; S3 o$ l) F
3 A# O4 Q% R+ Z2 m% fThe study looked at certain local markets examined and found the average price of a "standard two-storey home" fell 3.7 per cent to $363,707.
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" @) {0 W$ B6 c3 u5 L' ?3 |8 WThe price of detached bungalows fell 4.9 per cent to $330,000 from the same time last year. Standard condo prices also fell 7.7 per cent year-over-year to $235,000, said the LePage study.
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Ken Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.3 ?2 E! D* z! H3 R1 s& H: t
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"As a result of this debate, the market has receded from the wild pace it experienced last year as buyers are simply no longer interested in paying skyrocketing house prices," he said.# ]2 F- A4 M7 T4 h
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According to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:% m: A6 B& D+ U& v. A8 W+ _, a
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Sherwood Park: Average prices for two-storey homes dropped by 7.1 per cent to $390,000, while detached bungalows and condos were unchanged from last year.( i, a* |6 r$ `* l$ C$ ^
" F" I! m7 X- K& F; ]) eSpruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year.% U5 i8 N3 {+ w# g# g0 e
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Riverbend/Terwilligar: A two-storey property rose by 12.7 per cent to $410,950 over the same time last year. The average price of a detached bungalow rose by 2.6 per cent to $390,000, while condo prices dropped by 10.6 per cent to $235,000.
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5 [( d" e, Z! J( j4 n3 yLeduc: Average condo prices rose by 9.1 per cent to $240,000 year-over-year. Two-storey house prices dropped by 7.5 per cent ($310,000.)% p- v6 k* t2 h2 r/ J
2 ]/ S6 q8 p: ?' mSt. Albert: The average price of a two-storey home fell by 12.8 per cent to $340,000 while detached bungalows dropped by 12.3 per cent and condos by 13.3 per cent.. B; d8 Z. ^; @) {/ ]
Castle Downs: Average detached bungalows fell by 18.6 per cent to $285,000. Average two-storey homes went down 11.4 per cent to $350,000.3 Y* l1 E# M4 C$ e9 U
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Clareview: Detached bungalows decreased by 8.8 per cent to $310,000, year-over-year. Condo prices fell by 16 per cent to $210,000 from the same time last year. |
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