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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says
* _/ |/ R3 [" d j' {: JBill Mah, The Edmonton Journal0 e) x2 ?& c7 O' a* s" _- ~
Published: 1:31 am0 W9 q; r3 A7 {! h& r4 h+ ^* X
EDMONTON - The buyer still reigns in Edmonton's housing market, where the number of homes for sale has skyrocketed by 268 per cent from a year ago.
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5 {" q+ Y. U5 c/ l( G3 qFigures released Thursday by the Realtors Association of Edmonton show there were 9,464 residential properties available in the city area -- up by a whopping 1,220 homes from February.
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That's the third-largest inventory in Edmonton history. Only last September and October were there more homes for sale at month's end, 9,918 and 9,577 respectively.
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Association president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.
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Net migration to Alberta last year was 27,048. That's down significantly from 74,523 who moved here in 2006, according to Statistics Canada data.
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/ z* `: M( l, O"We had an industry that ramped up, expecting that those numbers would keep up and now, as a result of that drop-off, we've seen inventory numbers come up fairly significantly," Perras said.
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" m0 f4 C2 H4 V4 r+ _He predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.
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1 Q: J4 f1 F7 ~! A# q/ n' o"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.
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"We saw quite a roller-coaster ride last year when prices jumped up significantly in the first six months and fell off significantly in the last six months."+ @+ x# o) a5 ^4 }8 z
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A single-family home sold in March for an average price of $387,632, down 2.7 per cent from March last year.7 J8 N. J8 {! Y3 J7 d. i
. F+ w# k `) V0 V/ @But the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.# U! [1 Y& [; v! m0 ^
; v3 J8 I# }' d: d" T/ C; m6 YThere were 1,557 residential properties sold in March with new listings of 4,236 for a sales-to-listing ratio of 37 per cent. Homes spent 51 days on the market, down one day from last month.6 j: H5 m& ^% W; n, l( q- \" l
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Total MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.
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Meanwhile, a house price survey released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services says Edmonton-area houses became more affordable in the first three months of 2008.3 x3 @% f" @2 P# d4 C1 r7 R
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The study looked at certain local markets examined and found the average price of a "standard two-storey home" fell 3.7 per cent to $363,707.
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The price of detached bungalows fell 4.9 per cent to $330,000 from the same time last year. Standard condo prices also fell 7.7 per cent year-over-year to $235,000, said the LePage study.5 F5 l0 k7 ]) F+ T. q
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Ken Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.: h1 x2 M, V9 d3 E+ E! o0 `
$ ]; ^5 T( d& @, Z3 T- P"As a result of this debate, the market has receded from the wild pace it experienced last year as buyers are simply no longer interested in paying skyrocketing house prices," he said.1 ^8 \# \" p3 s5 c! l
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According to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:
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Sherwood Park: Average prices for two-storey homes dropped by 7.1 per cent to $390,000, while detached bungalows and condos were unchanged from last year.
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Spruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year.
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Riverbend/Terwilligar: A two-storey property rose by 12.7 per cent to $410,950 over the same time last year. The average price of a detached bungalow rose by 2.6 per cent to $390,000, while condo prices dropped by 10.6 per cent to $235,000.
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: i+ u5 R! U9 }( RLeduc: Average condo prices rose by 9.1 per cent to $240,000 year-over-year. Two-storey house prices dropped by 7.5 per cent ($310,000.)% T! S2 F* E4 p, E$ {
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St. Albert: The average price of a two-storey home fell by 12.8 per cent to $340,000 while detached bungalows dropped by 12.3 per cent and condos by 13.3 per cent.) M& K2 F3 H$ h
Castle Downs: Average detached bungalows fell by 18.6 per cent to $285,000. Average two-storey homes went down 11.4 per cent to $350,000." w0 b2 @! K- g1 _) p
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Clareview: Detached bungalows decreased by 8.8 per cent to $310,000, year-over-year. Condo prices fell by 16 per cent to $210,000 from the same time last year. |
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