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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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) j- [( |0 P3 y4 S1 N“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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_! v7 i6 S% X- O" cThe 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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1 F! n* i& M3 w& @# g+ n1 v! vOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.- b* J' s/ F$ n
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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.3 }9 s! J- _8 ^& K2 _7 F, q& Z4 t
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty./ l3 X3 m& H2 @
( V! N. C& b7 ?8 {“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.9 ~7 L2 d$ h, r) }- d- B
0 O/ z3 c. u1 qNeither 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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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 2009.0 Z# l. H' s3 t$ \/ e
w6 ~7 V/ ~: r2 I' z3 Q' rThe year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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2 r: _1 j6 }. ]. ]) [4 G- |“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.7 r* B4 e# A# O+ F, N6 V$ k
9 a3 N7 ^0 w/ k! u3 U' wThe report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said./ C* {! G4 h* z8 v7 _
The company added that a glut of homes that burdened the market shrank in 2008 and will get smaller in 2009, putting Edmonton in a balanced market.0 ]. z& L' b/ i$ C
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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.
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) b1 B1 ~8 @0 ~7 X7 zMeanwhile, 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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