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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says
7 V$ f0 w [& S" v0 ^. D; i; |Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal V2 g) E2 ~! ~- O+ o- o
Published: 1:31 am
4 b8 A, U6 Y1 E4 j) xEDMONTON - 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.1 r; o# R# M$ b0 ^7 g* a
- g$ B0 T: B: P8 e( L) `5 t! nFigures 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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4 v, T" w6 A. m: c H( V+ BThat'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.- i/ a$ {" o. g9 l
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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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"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 z) M4 W- e! ^% |6 QHe 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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% \) J+ }0 I5 g$ H$ r# H"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.
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3 S+ [6 \8 b8 |8 H2 D8 v/ K"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."$ V2 Z$ B- N4 g5 k( [* A
' a. t7 q. C1 o% V3 wA single-family home sold in March for an average price of $387,632, down 2.7 per cent from March last year.
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But the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.
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% l& G+ R: W* `8 _4 P' w/ qThere were 1,557 residential properties sold in March with new listings of 4,236 for a sales-to-listing ratio of 37 per cent. Homes spent 51 days on the market, down one day from last month.1 T2 m0 ^" \# B
) \ W& u1 j6 M' O0 g6 x! r$ R9 wTotal MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.4 ~2 |. @5 S& \8 O
0 V1 B: Y4 n& p6 N5 AMeanwhile, 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.* |2 r; g& i7 N
! L5 c) s' v( W8 H% g/ k! EThe 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 $235,000, said the LePage study.( C/ @- g4 a8 p
" @) _ Z$ o* Q4 N7 ]2 l6 s8 GKen Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.' {' J% p' w! s6 H1 V, W
, ]' K" \# e8 d"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.
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9 n5 L/ k% e" W0 T: D( NAccording to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:$ u' G# a9 ^/ H0 q& E. d3 o
- N1 @; _: s+ C6 eSherwood 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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0 a( K. U4 @2 M: Q6 dSpruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year.
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8 `- \- M% [: TRiverbend/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.)
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1 C9 I {0 e* n4 J7 bSt. 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.
- ~' Q3 I0 X8 [4 B- Z+ {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 $350,000." l$ R& v0 [9 c0 M4 s
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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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