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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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/ U5 `# @+ T, ~“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.+ n) b2 `+ W ^7 E2 J( z3 _0 x
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The 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 2008.2 Q3 |0 P6 Y/ D: O) }4 ?* N
9 j; \: s0 B8 [! @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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3 R& K" S9 M- f, eOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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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.. ^1 {. _" n+ I) O4 I
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said./ j; {1 o4 ?! ~7 B* n+ G
5 r6 a! \' }+ L3 H, Z4 oNeither 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.! k: b* z. b9 u: I; ]
) i2 B" e# h" ^. c+ l5 `The year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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“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.) ?( `% _* m" X9 x0 p3 A) y7 d( y
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The 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.
" I# p1 G( \) f7 z. j% f3 |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.: J/ f. {7 r# b6 P$ c; g2 W
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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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Meanwhile, 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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