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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.
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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 2008.0 }2 Z% Q4 \' w
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Condominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.% s% p( _) Z2 f" Z: Y8 p8 V
4 ]6 }* g C0 Z" J) R# GOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November. |0 {3 \7 t% a7 x* \/ h7 b5 z
- P6 j1 S+ q' U9 m. M/ ]6 \Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said., J6 B: b, O0 G1 }
& R# v2 J/ m* @4 N5 R) GNeither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
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But one real estate company predicted Tuesday that after months of sluggish sales and slipping prices, Edmonton’s housing will return to “a normal state” in 2009.- P9 R+ g r$ E) @7 o% q. N
( y6 |2 ~5 d" a! x: XThe year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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“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.
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2 T3 p' m2 b) q. d! }) hThe 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.
3 i- D2 O, h6 _* M8 U8 ]) _& f lThe 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. Q+ r: S8 b3 V- D
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“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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* I! \8 V6 U( v( \" ]- bMeanwhile, 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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