 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
EDMONTON – By the end of the year, Edmonton could get something it hasn’t seen for several years — a “normalized” housing market — as homes for sale dry up and prices drop .
8 ~ e9 R& n" n8 R7 u# t
: `% X9 B* Y8 `% J3 b o& V/ DThat’s the forecast contained in the House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services. & `! p; a; g+ I: K' k* q" B
8 U6 d' h2 J' @9 _& ~# E' aA soaring number of homes put on the market especially by builders and speculators in the last year softened the city’s housing market during the second quarter, the report said. 3 e/ v! T/ S. v* Y9 o1 Q& B- G! u
9 q7 y* c) x! i$ K2 Y" P
“The high inventory levels will dwindle into the second half of the year, and as affordability improves, subsequent market conditions will continue to normalize,” the report said.
0 ^8 q* [) P+ h- ~; s ^$ ?( R, f$ K' E
As of the end of Wednesday, there were 11,184 homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, according to the Realtors’ Association of Edmonton.
) p( B; ^+ W: E5 n1 V
J6 l8 R+ `* P: bBut Alberta’s two biggest cities still boast some of the most expensive real estate in the country, it noted.
: h. E! k$ j. X. s
" g9 g/ x8 O0 I( _: k“Despite some mild price erosion during the second quarter in both Calgary and Edmonton, these markets remain strong. Although prices have come down from where they were last year — one of the best years on record — current house prices are far higher than they were three years ago before energy-rich Alberta experienced its boom.” ! b& f% Q2 }9 g+ C; u x* X' T" y% d
9 ^2 `4 |# D9 E5 a$ L
The average price for a detached bungalow in Edmonton in April, May and June was $320,000, down about 14.5 per cent from the same period in 2007 ($374,143), Royal LePage said in its survey of Canadian house prices.
5 N- F- W- O! u4 @, n& P( \; J+ ~6 v; V
In the second quarter of 2008, a two-storey house in Edmonton sold for an average price of $348,571, down 12.4 per cent year-over-year from $397,857. * ]( O9 N1 o1 p1 H
9 L Q6 R& _/ G- n% U3 B( F3 w3 t4 M
An average condominium in Edmonton was priced at $226,000, down 14.2 per cent from $263,333 in the comparable 2007 period. , O- t1 I, {. P! `$ D& P% B! M
: w8 u, O4 d) x/ ]1 T“A surge in inventory caused Alberta’s white-hot market to record the country’s only major-market price decreases,” the report said. 9 r: q6 Y8 `4 U8 ~
8 J/ h8 m% o) y* S" fAcross most of the country, average house prices rose, but more slowly than the spikes seen in 2006 and 2007. & x4 y( @% Q( e; N
I7 q6 m' o: ^1 d( |
Royal LePage forecasts the national average house price to rise by 3.5 per cent, to $318,000 by year’s end.
! ?7 e* J: f" S2 {
% ~1 x" {3 O% ^7 D' W( k3 R$ l- nThe report predicts home sale transactions to decrease by 11.5 per cent to 461,000 unit sales by year’s end. |
|