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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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4 ]* b8 {4 L; s9 M“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 $30,000 less than the average price of a single family dwelling at the start of 2008.
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Condominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.( q; W/ i6 Z( r$ N. `
3 Y4 g4 g/ E" {8 m) u) f3 jOver 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.
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2 d1 T. D( _7 rResidential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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( J9 k1 c, M+ B1 C& n4 g* n) l“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.
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9 @' O# C: |( o0 V- x5 FNeither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.4 l, P+ U6 j1 G* T. W
8 A0 \3 e& X& Y4 C' q! k+ k nBut 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 2009.6 V7 S+ C& R" G7 W
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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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“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.# t9 u0 J9 ~. ^/ g) R7 _
$ l7 `/ j$ J) _" D: L3 G3 A. Q' N LThe report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.
7 f% g. A8 S; ?2 wThe company added that a glut of homes that burdened the market shrank in 2008 and will get smaller in 2009, putting Edmonton in a balanced market.
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' ^' u6 `8 o$ X0 b8 t) J2 m“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.8 s) V3 a' E# n! h t* W
3 N: _1 {. y! q8 v9 _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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