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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 $30,000 less than the average price of a single family dwelling at the start of 2008.5 w$ l* {) M( i# Y5 s! F4 a a
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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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0 _+ C% m2 V0 l/ W; GOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.! k4 G# o, J2 }' W: U' g; p% I
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.; `& X4 n$ i: B' _ O
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.6 L7 `5 e' y( B- [4 ^! Z2 X! T0 |- F
5 R# T2 z0 X. W3 ?Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.3 p: ^2 p8 q2 N0 |
% V3 r4 }8 @8 b7 h$ m3 C1 [6 T8 pBut 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." x. q2 ~5 f4 u: D0 w( g% O
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The year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.0 v/ t7 x R6 ]% c
3 h, ]& v9 P! n$ @2 F; z) e“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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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." [# X# q3 h; V3 P
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.! _7 Y& R/ }; f! S: k }% z
# w/ G0 j4 e' j3 T I7 V# Q' t“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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- d- K7 ~; p4 `5 W d+ O/ T/ iMeanwhile, 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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