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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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- k% D' G. q: F8 f$ d“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.3 V3 z5 V. \) O$ ]7 M
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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.) n( G4 W+ o+ H @2 l C
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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.
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8 l- T7 a- i' Q1 [6 uOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286. {1 @1 }! a/ Y+ X
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.# h( b. \4 u" b0 I9 H' S
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.
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Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
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* P4 C; L8 z8 M5 d0 q3 D/ XBut one real estate company predicted Tuesday that after months of sluggish sales and slipping prices, Edmonton’s housing will return to “a normal state” in 2009.4 G$ U. K* s8 W3 [7 \, H! N; r
2 V$ J2 a1 u5 n5 K, E3 DThe year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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) Y/ A3 C& W- w3 X. ^“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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6 M8 @1 h) \4 \/ Y7 iThe 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.4 p7 S' V% a( \; D
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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6 E7 C9 ]) t8 f" h/ J: V“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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