 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html! ~3 m/ O' {2 [1 U" |
# h7 R# Q( j9 c* c6 m `( O- kEDMONTON — 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 2008.5 R# N+ I2 D: e; O
" B5 ]7 \% [' o% ^+ O; S
Every indicator fared worse than it did in January of last year, showed Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday.
- ^7 i* ^7 o+ Q; i
8 H: n9 ^' c/ i- v k- K. S; H3 }+ y5 _- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.7 ]1 |! `( u& G6 e4 W! o5 S
- o. H* a: O4 a- b1 Y, l7 T- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent.! z- c/ e8 Y0 q9 o
8 Q! X- H' U0 s: a! y, r# r4 Q0 w- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689.3 _% V. @" `( y+ _% f* O2 ?
: Z& {5 p; m& _* h# O8 H( \( `
- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535.4 c* i0 [) [1 O, |
/ s8 x. M9 F( }# p' v6 _- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.& l" r/ N3 z, ~
. n9 m# @0 O. h8 Z4 {/ x$ m) i
- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.
* d0 ?' D, s: R$ p
# C' G7 U4 b4 h: G$ X1 V1 E, F# KFor all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.* T1 r3 C# S$ L! y4 D4 h; H
, L* F+ ?$ R4 ?! z4 }* KHe looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics.
, M+ g( l( S, }# O) k8 S1 ~: s `# H/ W2 W1 I
Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December.
+ k& ?7 F1 d% p' g0 y
/ W$ y. w' I# K7 g$ z- f9 \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 $299,222.0 x6 y6 q x u" i% A2 @! {/ T/ r
# C4 V' ^7 Q W# p0 g
“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.”
' y4 h9 C9 y9 [+ v1 \% |7 c( R
9 u, V/ u' g+ a9 w# V4 J, jHe 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. |
|