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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html* U: w7 g1 O, l. i) z; x1 _9 i: V7 K* ~
+ P( W: R( \ Q) Y0 IEDMONTON — 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.
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Every indicator fared worse than it did in January of last year, showed Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday.
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) O+ z, y+ c" v4 T- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.' Q5 p; e8 Y2 d' d- {
2 h1 `* B2 [4 b. B/ g/ {( }* B5 q1 y3 O- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent.
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- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689.; R, l+ R' z8 J
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- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535.
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- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.3 \8 c' s( C, m* i
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- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.1 r, {7 j x4 V7 l) }+ z+ u/ `
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For all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.
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! S# l" H* e9 l$ G/ i+ HHe looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics.$ S1 o X: M, j
, @ {' ^2 N2 wMultiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December.2 D* l7 M8 A6 t. D9 b2 |6 U7 {& C
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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 $299,222.( `- v3 a$ X6 _' c9 m+ n4 I- s
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“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.”
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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. |
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