 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html1 _7 }/ e" |5 q0 D0 u
# k" l- @) a2 B! y& ~& f# Z, h5 U
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 2008.7 k* Q4 ~/ z% Q( B
4 C9 s# L1 f: X8 K
Every indicator fared worse than it did in January of last year, showed Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday.
' i V9 g. F! N
2 o( t/ k+ I" A6 t, T7 A- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.
, {# M* M2 D2 G- e) L8 U) s$ I8 S- C! m) P1 a3 P" w3 P8 ?
- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent.. Z( {7 ^$ J3 S' s* U) W) P# z. X
9 V8 y* y5 @" W
- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689.
8 P2 ] ?; M5 F# L8 d
% E" o: g o$ @ Q- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535. p+ ^$ n$ F) q, |" ~8 O6 o6 e$ z
4 ?% W4 ?) C7 a" j
- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.
( j# H! H8 Y- Y; A9 y% B$ u8 p9 I0 C" V8 }' r
- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.
1 m2 ^) r- v f- M0 G* a
% s6 n, b8 \* O" G7 N) PFor all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.
# t& l/ J! F' F$ k; V z: c0 |, N6 y+ H1 k9 j% _' _4 F" i! Q
He looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics.* d6 n4 V& R7 H8 _ _4 X: ~) D
1 k4 G/ U1 d+ ?$ f. k- s+ E. D
Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December.
. \: ], {3 {+ \! ~+ F0 t5 ]" U1 o7 G1 r' h; u- J: v9 e: ^
Sales 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 $299,222.$ m4 I0 l7 F. r
- L, z# r- |- G2 g( y( J0 G' a
“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.”
8 m/ e" E$ }+ j* _2 v+ V4 e
$ ?( s. l& {9 S* {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. |
|