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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html
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- t- K, r8 r; p0 e6 u" l/ ~EDMONTON — 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.+ N7 O& Z" W' i8 [% V8 J3 ~
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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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* |; }1 ~ n: Q t! c- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.
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- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent.8 _" H7 S# A9 P) o. j& ~+ H; S
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- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689.- T5 b B8 k4 ?6 P W
4 c2 F7 a; p: D& R3 b- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535.
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/ ^: R9 f# }" z3 V( D- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.- f0 c3 Z5 M) y% O9 r3 }- B
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- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.
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, ]- @. y* {2 } J* x4 i/ n! U0 ]1 VFor all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.
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- [8 {: E+ t1 QHe looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics.* T" Z) c [0 p
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Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December.7 C) S' C8 M6 L7 x+ C4 W1 Z
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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.
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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.”( j) E- L( Z9 `
4 Z0 D( b' W+ s) AHe 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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