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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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# C; U- w. B# d4 S% U“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.: K& ?# k) B" F8 e8 K7 C; W
4 J6 S+ L. O( J) MCondominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.2 ^, h* [1 n1 A" @
$ X8 Q O3 D$ |- i( s/ cOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.* g6 X: b' ]" h" p; `
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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.& y" C( F) p; E) |3 t9 q
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.# P+ {! a4 E7 ` o
0 i" A; D F1 J) S& ?. u1 V8 ]“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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0 P* ]( R8 v* V4 u3 K: `7 s8 q1 gBut 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.
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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.
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5 |3 @! U4 B1 P F: Q7 j& @“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./ T; }9 t5 K& P1 y
" x( A6 F! _ Y3 A3 \% JThe report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.% h$ e V5 p& l8 K( E; r
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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“Nationally, Canadian average house prices are forecast to dip by three per cent from last year to $295,000, while transactions are projected to fall to 416,000 (–3.5 per cent) unit sales in 2009,” the report said.! q9 t" ^$ I/ g+ K* a
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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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