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EDMONTON — Prices for single-family homes in the Edmonton region dropped while condo prices rallied in December, according to figures released today by the Realtors Association of Edmonton.$ }' w1 |! T) v8 a
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“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.
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The average price for a single family home dropped by three per cent to $351,870 after remaining flat for two months. That’s $30,000 less than the average price of a single family dwelling at the start of 2008./ D: d' \! z3 d: h) O
- X$ _- K2 e' z. H- V" {Condominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.
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! P1 M) [- ?/ A4 VOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.: ` d& d V- d+ @, R, L
9 e+ n2 ` f+ M2 L" \5 wResidential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.! Y5 _- z" y0 ]% Q- L' D7 k+ w5 V
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.; R+ c/ z y# E2 l$ S/ {0 T
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Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.- M) R% U, ]! a) T4 d2 J( ]3 I
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But one real estate company predicted Tuesday that after months of sluggish sales and slipping prices, Edmonton’s housing will return to “a normal state” in 2009.: B) |" J6 v' G1 ?" Y
% r3 C) h$ ]3 t0 bThe year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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' u: }3 w! ?; R) s7 H! M“The combination of healthy employment levels, historically low interest rates and good affordability — something the city has not seen in a while — will all bolster Edmonton’s housing resale market in 2009,” said the survey.0 I ?# C" i! T. h% P5 x
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The report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.* ~' m2 f$ f7 G5 Y' a
The company added that a glut of homes that burdened the market shrank in 2008 and will get smaller in 2009, putting Edmonton in a balanced market.
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0 n+ H0 [& B9 F“Nationally, Canadian average house prices are forecast to dip by three per cent from last year to $295,000, while transactions are projected to fall to 416,000 (–3.5 per cent) unit sales in 2009,” the report said.
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Meanwhile, the Realtors Association of Edmonton will release a recap of the housing market this morning and a forecast of 2009 on Thursday. |
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