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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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“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.1 h2 \8 u9 P2 g5 L; m1 S
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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.# Z5 F) Y0 \: U1 G
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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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# K- H, k) w) @Over the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.4 U/ a* `9 b( e x- A) u
4 ` B1 v' o; ^Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.' Z* r0 Q; u1 ?0 [6 H+ u: M" V
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Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
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, R8 Q" r2 T. rBut one real estate company predicted Tuesday that after months of sluggish sales and slipping prices, Edmonton’s housing will return to “a normal state” in 2009.
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The year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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7 I5 `1 g# d1 g3 t( x“The combination of healthy employment levels, historically low interest rates and good affordability — something the city has not seen in a while — will all bolster Edmonton’s housing resale market in 2009,” said the survey.
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, P" }$ @& O# _6 p8 Q( f- W( cThe report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.
! ^5 ^ R$ X! q. w5 lThe 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.; o5 R6 y+ D& g+ l" g& h1 P
- K/ o% u5 R6 g( }) T4 U“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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