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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html$ w4 U+ i0 {, p3 k% r! [$ L
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EDMONTON — Edmonton’s resale housing market sales kicked off the new year by stumbling out the gate — with residential MLS sales down 40.5 per cent compared to January 2008.& p) R4 t" t+ w3 G
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Every indicator fared worse than it did in January of last year, showed Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday.9 ^5 t+ g6 o) v
}& C3 h8 A9 G/ p" C% ~- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.- y6 n7 a" A: Q0 n$ o
6 Y/ m. u# q% B A- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent.+ y/ M5 d/ Z- I5 _; X
5 G b8 F) h0 w; u. X' ?; s- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689.- m$ d4 H( Q1 @; Y2 H, K8 K2 T0 h
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- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535.5 Y+ i" T0 E3 F/ q
- l8 N! P. }; `, C3 x- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.3 d0 w' D) G" H- K
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- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.
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For all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.5 X+ k" q/ Y6 _+ z' e5 D/ q
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He looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics.( W# X1 b a0 o/ ^
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Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December.
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Sales prices were also up in all categories as compared to the previous month. The average price of a single-family home in January was $352,689 — up a quarter of a per cent compared to December. Condo prices nudged up 1.8 per cent to $238,535 and duplex/rowhouses rose 2.2 per cent to $299,222.
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“Nobody rings a bell when prices hit the bottom,” he said. “The bottom is evident only after several months of rising prices. One month does not make a trend but the market is certainly welcoming to home buyers.”
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He pointed to interest rates which have fallen to their lowest in years, a large selection of homes and recently introduced federal tax credits for home renovation and a change in the amount of RRSP savings that can be applied to a first-home purchase — now $25,000 up from $20,000. |
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