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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.
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! ^) k+ T$ B! U, L/ H8 Y“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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, ~( v% r, y( X' S8 i! }. T" L; mThe average price for a single family home dropped by three per cent to $351,870 after remaining flat for two months. That’s $30,000 less than the average price of a single family dwelling at the start of 2008.
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Condominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.
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. q+ [% t" a1 p D9 S$ T- bOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.+ W/ t$ \! q2 Q
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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.- l' D% v2 m+ @, u; D0 i' u; Z( O
9 ^5 Z! K, ^* F8 sResidential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.0 l- H1 `( Q! r
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.0 p# i9 S' o0 P7 g: D3 B- l, q4 ?
1 W, f; k1 }5 v! O. u$ I- YNeither 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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: l) z! Y; m& [) R% ` UBut 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.; z, i% P$ v9 O' R9 `! W0 a, Y: U& S
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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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9 t- s7 _- j" U9 }! o5 i“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.
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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.
, i# v6 E; s4 A, H eThe 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.7 H4 x3 N2 b/ l0 s
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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.3 q) Z0 }4 h) ?: U
) L3 H! }5 A9 p aMeanwhile, 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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