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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html
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EDMONTON — Edmonton’s resale housing market sales kicked off the new year by stumbling out the gate — with residential MLS sales down 40.5 per cent compared to January 2008.6 {: M' [% V+ d5 \2 i) b X
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Every indicator fared worse than it did in January of last year, showed Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday.
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- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.% n/ e3 T, L2 L f9 x8 }) i
; w/ b) b7 t1 w9 D6 F9 g b! [- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent.* T! e; [ `; x7 W- {, C" a$ N* } ?% `
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- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689.. z6 P9 ]) I, v) K4 c* Z# {4 q
# E8 I9 H7 E: E* f A- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535.
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' B. I! L& E; J- f3 h- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.
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I) i( [$ q( q- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.) \% I5 ?9 x- G6 F
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For all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.! k4 Q4 t8 X1 ^: o3 q, f# T9 A
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He looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics." K1 E2 _$ O$ H2 x& q
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Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December.
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# o- j0 m4 ?: X- LSales prices were also up in all categories as compared to the previous month. The average price of a single-family home in January was $352,689 — up a quarter of a per cent compared to December. Condo prices nudged up 1.8 per cent to $238,535 and duplex/rowhouses rose 2.2 per cent to $299,222.
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“Nobody rings a bell when prices hit the bottom,” he said. “The bottom is evident only after several months of rising prices. One month does not make a trend but the market is certainly welcoming to home buyers.”
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He pointed to interest rates which have fallen to their lowest in years, a large selection of homes and recently introduced federal tax credits for home renovation and a change in the amount of RRSP savings that can be applied to a first-home purchase — now $25,000 up from $20,000. |
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