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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.3 n' c) m& N4 Z! @, t
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“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.
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" K X7 G9 ]# f! G, `+ rThe 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 2008.6 v/ O0 F v. V0 F" K
- X5 S/ H* L3 }6 A- u8 D6 MCondominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.
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Over the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.; d9 ]- f; E8 Z8 `
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.! g9 X7 l! b% }6 w' V$ r' Z: I
0 a5 K I4 `$ S“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said./ F5 A& ?, R6 e
' V. [7 W, ^4 [. X. S Y3 J! RNeither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
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3 ?+ z5 b5 ~0 o: @But 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.( h2 G/ @6 p6 }! Q% n+ K! n
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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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$ `1 f' m+ E0 s! R, `& c( m“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.3 u0 P g8 e* R2 O1 @4 ~$ ^ e
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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.5 N f1 |1 \1 y/ j# l' G
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./ j# }# V- z" j! H6 g. c
. X: K+ y8 Z0 `5 jMeanwhile, the Realtors Association of Edmonton will release a recap of the housing market this morning and a forecast of 2009 on Thursday. |
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