 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
EDMONTON – By the end of the year, Edmonton could get something it hasn’t seen for several years — a “normalized” housing market — as homes for sale dry up and prices drop . ) }& @9 O2 c6 r. b# ~. ~; G/ Y
/ d( T8 O6 Y$ h* G! H$ f
That’s the forecast contained in the House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
7 l; n) l- n# j( Z& d* N* ^7 f' u- o4 V5 F4 X
A soaring number of homes put on the market especially by builders and speculators in the last year softened the city’s housing market during the second quarter, the report said. 0 [1 l4 Q/ r! T3 P$ c% I% N
b" d3 c8 j% x, x
“The high inventory levels will dwindle into the second half of the year, and as affordability improves, subsequent market conditions will continue to normalize,” the report said.
5 N" s2 J# w# A. R. V1 X9 I* H- B& Y( G; R
As of the end of Wednesday, there were 11,184 homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, according to the Realtors’ Association of Edmonton.
- q, I" y$ _" V8 K( S A. {- G) s( W1 H* |7 k/ X
But Alberta’s two biggest cities still boast some of the most expensive real estate in the country, it noted. 7 F5 ~! _ [5 X0 j# i$ t
$ e5 ?2 y- [& ? `; _
“Despite some mild price erosion during the second quarter in both Calgary and Edmonton, these markets remain strong. Although prices have come down from where they were last year — one of the best years on record — current house prices are far higher than they were three years ago before energy-rich Alberta experienced its boom.” 6 ?4 }0 w+ d* A2 `
- i( H' b9 g R& [The average price for a detached bungalow in Edmonton in April, May and June was $320,000, down about 14.5 per cent from the same period in 2007 ($374,143), Royal LePage said in its survey of Canadian house prices. . E+ j$ m& Y: h3 t, i- B7 a
$ Z Q! q; D1 m
In the second quarter of 2008, a two-storey house in Edmonton sold for an average price of $348,571, down 12.4 per cent year-over-year from $397,857. 5 ?6 z0 f; x+ }
2 Z( x; f {5 Y/ H' mAn average condominium in Edmonton was priced at $226,000, down 14.2 per cent from $263,333 in the comparable 2007 period.
& B- v( O0 m# s4 H7 l; f% J
/ W# k4 l2 ?7 `' O+ w“A surge in inventory caused Alberta’s white-hot market to record the country’s only major-market price decreases,” the report said.
/ q& H5 ?$ y- ^* B! x2 W9 [% {
6 ?6 \7 \' z8 C$ b0 p* E. nAcross most of the country, average house prices rose, but more slowly than the spikes seen in 2006 and 2007.
5 `8 ~# r) C0 k
# s, Q4 Y! d5 T/ P; ~6 iRoyal LePage forecasts the national average house price to rise by 3.5 per cent, to $318,000 by year’s end.
* Z/ C6 G5 P& n, d/ I9 @8 k) R4 s( B' }+ i4 ]" d7 \2 r
The report predicts home sale transactions to decrease by 11.5 per cent to 461,000 unit sales by year’s end. |
|