Return to 'normal' seen in Edmonton housing market

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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.

“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.

4 }0 p7 l( a: S( b: y$ |* s4 y6 kThe 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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# F) |, N7 j0 y+ H! S4 d6 ICondominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.

6 M9 B( m' f  R" ?# [" V, NOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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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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4 B5 S- s) C5 K: eResidential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.

- x, P6 @  m# U; z“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.
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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.

( r& f; P2 L& |$ `9 MBut 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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The year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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8 o' ^4 I/ w+ Y# r; A  u2 k“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.

" o& F, @- J0 G# ]The report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.
' j' s' v8 w$ Y" V  \1 p: u8 d7 ~The 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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“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.

* Y' Y- X  C" c+ }5 J7 o5 M! M1 y7 zMeanwhile, the Realtors Association of Edmonton will release a recap of the housing market this morning and a forecast of 2009 on Thursday.

宋兵乙

冬腊梅

dezhongxiao

卖房子的房地产公司当然看好市场了。
/ y+ p% }9 O% ?% I所以宣称不会跌了。

BAOMA

听到喜欢听的，自然就愿意相信。
* f3 h, P" g0 ~还是让事实来揭晓答案吧。

icing

catty

今天看到经纪人协会分析，说09销售会跌10%，不过没说价格，按照他们的歪嘴惯性，说不定售价+10%，理由是房子卖得少，售价自然就高，供不应求 。

algebra81