 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html
4 g. I, G# x- m1 Z" ^8 ]' k1 @9 T; I4 l; 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.* R5 K7 C" ]4 @5 x
- O$ H3 T& Q+ z1 Z t; KEvery indicator fared worse than it did in January of last year, showed Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday.2 v: O2 F8 t$ G0 [' t2 I& u
. l/ h8 ]. W9 c* C3 L9 p
- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.; k& T V/ V% u: Y$ j6 J/ K
0 \# c) g7 m0 @! r% b: A' A- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent. v! d3 f% a$ g
7 |9 J T, r+ S2 B2 N+ F- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689.
\& u8 B! w6 g8 Z
' L- Q9 x7 E: B: T2 J# N/ Y- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535.
% W0 w2 [" q1 r8 \' {0 W) r! `- q* K
- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.
7 p( m+ B2 R1 u; p7 C. @, n0 H* T% o1 y5 @% ~" v
- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.
8 M1 R3 i ?' u5 `* d; N0 D. }5 y, c% E9 C
For all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.
* S3 I# K% N3 n, t6 }9 P v$ Y2 O3 v# [& N; W' b$ Y! {
He looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics.
# B4 Y6 v- h) X8 {: F' E9 p/ ?& W+ @: G/ f
Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December., b' ^" L1 P3 l
8 F" ]: ^9 K6 x0 {
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.* ~. g7 h' M' u( @ T
4 K7 ~0 S5 j: e) w
“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.”
2 h* R- U7 L, k; K6 S7 B7 b5 h) l3 K9 p% k8 y/ o, o8 M
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. |
|