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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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+ G* @1 X% v% l3 V5 d“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.
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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 $30,000 less than the average price of a single family dwelling at the start of 2008.1 R! M* G i: `9 _
+ {, j) v( @0 e' j$ I4 N# I# G) UCondominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.# x/ R/ h) _8 P8 x' K) o8 A
8 k( R0 d3 g# F3 K) xOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.# B6 B# ?5 s8 y% B& `, Q! c
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.% c6 ~( S( B1 c' j* B
. x0 S' V5 X* b7 y# N) g6 [“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.5 o/ ^$ p( d# k) n5 U8 L
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Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.8 p1 A: f9 ^ z; Y! I! W
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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.
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! w' y6 [" m# [* J8 x4 h! {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.4 ?% d6 h1 b+ B/ |% X
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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.* J( ?4 p' `3 q1 H
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.
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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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9 `' f0 J6 E k+ u8 I' i+ PMeanwhile, 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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