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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.2 I+ |4 q. |: z
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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.; h( D7 O) N( f( _4 R
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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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5 p: @& ~; |% VCondominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.2 E" o1 l- N1 A) D% U7 V3 t
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Over the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.4 j8 ~/ |. q; z1 ?, s- h
" A+ Z5 }* U7 S1 q( A) `4 O# g. Y5 ^At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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7 } O8 J( ^3 ?% }“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.( w' O, C! \; X" L
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Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
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But one real estate company predicted Tuesday that after months of sluggish sales and slipping prices, Edmonton’s housing will return to “a normal state” in 2009.
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4 C% ~- _: r8 _, }& lThe year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast., G! c+ s3 h9 |$ F) W. S
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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.
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( N+ X3 m% K Z7 ?9 W$ kThe report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.
r8 f6 E+ P7 R# \& w3 v( j8 P' rThe company added that a glut of homes that burdened the market shrank in 2008 and will get smaller in 2009, putting Edmonton in a balanced market.
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4 l; N3 v$ a1 E. j! N4 Y“Nationally, Canadian average house prices are forecast to dip by three per cent from last year to $295,000, while transactions are projected to fall to 416,000 (–3.5 per cent) unit sales in 2009,” the report said.% u$ w) i2 o0 t5 L. G# y4 P. t
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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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