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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says5 }" ]) H, | X; s# m$ [* g
Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal
: U! a; \0 u% e9 `3 C; HPublished: 1:31 am. j5 i. e" q' Q2 S7 X9 |
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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Figures 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.. n: E1 Q' K$ a: C" i0 ^
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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.! i1 I0 v; d. P2 A4 d
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Association president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.% Y' W/ j9 U8 O8 `, K, G2 o W8 Z ^
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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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"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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% ?5 ?5 ~1 {' y2 Y4 N! `1 {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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3 L0 S+ ]0 F- p# a"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat., F& y' A; ^; S7 j" V3 R
0 l, k2 c a" K4 R"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."
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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.+ m5 U4 ]* B& G/ K+ A
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But the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.
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0 \4 O) |" K! p( S7 N! [There were 1,557 residential properties sold in March with new listings of 4,236 for a sales-to-listing ratio of 37 per cent. Homes spent 51 days on the market, down one day from last month.% S9 A1 p3 \" w" e
' h8 {$ { T: f( c( y2 QTotal MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.
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; j @9 u; s: C% {6 o2 N! fMeanwhile, 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.. F! [# g9 ?2 [8 f
3 Y9 h' L& S) g7 \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.- r- {8 }6 a9 M0 g' f) ]
- `- w+ |- C0 O2 R. y- gThe 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.
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% t4 V- }) ~7 |" H1 j- A8 GKen Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.3 t5 w& \( W$ g0 r1 U: f! _ C
$ {1 D4 G! b2 `/ E, G* q! e- q"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./ f. r j6 W% k6 Z: h8 B3 x
' Y7 Y$ r% [% DAccording to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:
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! s6 ?# ]5 T, ?& uSherwood Park: Average prices for two-storey homes dropped by 7.1 per cent to $390,000, while detached bungalows and condos were unchanged from last year.3 }+ U, Q# Y) j+ B$ r
0 ]- ]5 x4 g6 z; \$ v l, N; i3 f2 g ASpruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year.+ M9 e& H, e" p. ?
9 H, n; o8 `+ I8 i( \: f/ i! cRiverbend/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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Leduc: 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.)( H X2 i+ y+ J
5 } q+ i& q; T) ~0 w" x% QSt. 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.
+ L/ Y: I3 `: }8 ~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.
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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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