 鲜花( 17)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says( _* @! J" n8 R& A! F& a
Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal
2 a8 q! d" \7 H1 Q6 DPublished: 1:31 am
4 z5 }% M+ z: T8 Z4 q% AEDMONTON - 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.
; r- B, a& I8 m, X* w2 f( ~
* [% T6 `% z G( H; D5 V# ZFigures 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.
$ M& A y9 t$ o8 [7 D) E) m$ @+ S( j+ @$ W. O
That'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.
2 R. n4 R8 O7 L& F U" x/ ]
; u9 m1 s, o) d5 [" _% ^" ^
/ C+ ~, W F* o* p9 k3 B+ bAssociation president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.5 e1 K$ A& @; ?" ?1 Q- ~
/ L- [4 c* H- `# U: D0 i R
Net 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.5 }7 P# z" ~$ U1 p" S" C+ j
& ~* ^) v" K8 [+ j0 \; q- [$ H"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.
8 r5 g2 Q/ |) I- S: c- r B* Z( `
He predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.# N/ \; }/ Y6 O h$ s+ ~
* I1 l) N" M9 e4 n8 Z9 E
"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.* O8 d' f5 L" f% @
9 O4 B1 z8 V5 x0 i4 Z9 z6 C' G4 ?"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."
1 T: m8 B, ?8 m2 e) r! H9 Z1 ?- {' ] ~3 O5 e6 @: a" F
A single-family home sold in March for an average price of $387,632, down 2.7 per cent from March last year.5 ] L5 C2 y$ A, T% h
& K p! h' n) t9 ], {8 HBut 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.
7 h) E& t' L# |' ^- Q+ R: ~
; d% }& ~) N5 Z# n5 rThere 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.
( j8 t( z2 W, e1 Z; S! e T
9 S- r/ E3 K: a2 V9 k. C2 fTotal MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.
/ R1 g0 h- @% \" r% k- I. e. k) @
Meanwhile, 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 2008.0 w2 @3 I: ]' _2 r& W
' y/ `( S! I2 D
The study looked at certain local markets examined and found the average price of a "standard two-storey home" fell 3.7 per cent to $363,707.
; F- R* Q% t$ p9 u2 a" z5 y8 A$ N6 A7 b1 l2 \) g" r& B
The 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 $235,000, said the LePage study.5 x# s) Q p. |/ w
1 F+ M" g" q9 z- P z1 t. D
Ken Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.
" w" a2 f6 \$ Y; m; k$ b: u" @, A) g1 R: }
"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./ K% H( c4 D( Q. a0 E
" e) k; K: a; w! Q1 I4 T6 f' `: j' AAccording to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:
1 F1 z$ F8 L* h# U- K3 d
# O1 D" O7 ^; C2 b6 q/ k) aSherwood 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.6 E; J2 q1 }; K" V
/ _5 q3 O; N% {" o8 w2 n6 HSpruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year.
- x# ~, S' n3 _" M5 c
/ X) [8 Z/ w) a1 v( n; ?; @5 b! q' sRiverbend/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.
; i" T5 }; a( p
( L3 @# x. G/ I* E1 d# ~/ c1 gLeduc: 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.)& Z; o& @* C1 A- J ^+ a7 S
/ ^% L& O0 K* [1 xSt. Albert: The average price of a two-storey home fell by 12.8 per cent to $340,000 while detached bungalows dropped by 12.3 per cent and condos by 13.3 per cent.
0 V; K; J- G2 }$ [* ]% DCastle Downs: Average detached bungalows fell by 18.6 per cent to $285,000. Average two-storey homes went down 11.4 per cent to $350,000.
, j0 ?0 S* A) H5 j7 F. x' i& {. a: E" y7 Y# d/ Z5 y9 C$ ]
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. |
|