 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
EDMONTON – By the end of the year, Edmonton could get something it hasn’t seen for several years — a “normalized” housing market — as homes for sale dry up and prices drop .
! o N, C* F- x. F6 M
1 I) ]9 r) y1 m; C# E. \" cThat’s the forecast contained in the House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
) n9 b' Y! o! k4 n2 t' |
7 p6 i# F" f: W, D/ ?+ PA soaring number of homes put on the market especially by builders and speculators in the last year softened the city’s housing market during the second quarter, the report said.
/ S- `5 t R7 K* f
, p, C3 U9 w7 Q) G% f$ W“The high inventory levels will dwindle into the second half of the year, and as affordability improves, subsequent market conditions will continue to normalize,” the report said.
& \# ~4 W+ W* @- z+ p' N5 g/ J% R* V. l: Z; o# b. H7 i
As of the end of Wednesday, there were 11,184 homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, according to the Realtors’ Association of Edmonton.
# j6 f Q0 J1 @0 l) N1 P
/ D, Y: y% U: V/ x- Z5 ~But Alberta’s two biggest cities still boast some of the most expensive real estate in the country, it noted.
0 Q4 s( K, _# X f0 B1 C' s, I( s. t5 h; P
“Despite some mild price erosion during the second quarter in both Calgary and Edmonton, these markets remain strong. Although prices have come down from where they were last year — one of the best years on record — current house prices are far higher than they were three years ago before energy-rich Alberta experienced its boom.”
, c* x/ r: o& P, `0 v$ v. M& d8 ^4 g- f
The average price for a detached bungalow in Edmonton in April, May and June was $320,000, down about 14.5 per cent from the same period in 2007 ($374,143), Royal LePage said in its survey of Canadian house prices. 6 C; D; D w5 \$ `
) k! k0 r: H6 ?- }5 TIn the second quarter of 2008, a two-storey house in Edmonton sold for an average price of $348,571, down 12.4 per cent year-over-year from $397,857.
q/ C9 ^5 K3 D+ W' H0 v: x+ H* R3 Q6 v1 k/ w/ K! a0 ]
An average condominium in Edmonton was priced at $226,000, down 14.2 per cent from $263,333 in the comparable 2007 period.
9 j& B1 G. n& @2 v1 M' P
! R q0 v9 b b! _) b; M: Q( i“A surge in inventory caused Alberta’s white-hot market to record the country’s only major-market price decreases,” the report said.
N/ L* Y6 v# Z+ x% q
: F# e, q0 x$ A; v qAcross most of the country, average house prices rose, but more slowly than the spikes seen in 2006 and 2007. 6 C/ A0 {1 n" e9 L: @# q; A/ T. Z
& R- Z, u0 e0 T/ Q: m5 HRoyal LePage forecasts the national average house price to rise by 3.5 per cent, to $318,000 by year’s end. 9 U& r8 d% o8 x% T4 G" `. d
2 {; Y6 B; Y5 A5 T3 N% U
The report predicts home sale transactions to decrease by 11.5 per cent to 461,000 unit sales by year’s end. |
|