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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says
7 Q; @" M1 D& t' o# u) s, ?" j3 CBill Mah, The Edmonton Journal
$ d0 U2 t5 z& YPublished: 1:31 am+ G) c7 ^9 R. _5 }' Y3 W
EDMONTON - 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.
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1 a0 T! J6 ]5 _6 a: |+ [6 oFigures 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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That'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.1 c0 ^! `2 u* f. d# ~
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4 b% X5 S+ g3 D e6 W. TAssociation president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.
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+ k4 b( I* c! A2 M& Y4 H& O5 WNet 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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6 Q9 Q" }- f1 }"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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He predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.: v- h, n( B0 x d1 H7 |$ x4 Q( R
" m' Z4 g* t8 k! s; G/ N( x* e"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.: X' ~- b1 u8 W4 ~, f" y
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"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."
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A single-family home sold in March for an average price of $387,632, down 2.7 per cent from March last year. {( p; B6 I4 W6 E
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But the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007." }2 r2 n2 a" l: z( A4 `; ?
# Z( o* R' a9 v: w# B- w/ j5 ?There were 1,557 residential properties sold in March with new listings of 4,236 for a sales-to-listing ratio of 37 per cent. Homes spent 51 days on the market, down one day from last month.' Y% b( d( F$ ?* }
( m& T6 F4 X" M- ]Total MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.* A9 F% T& V4 M
% X( |4 G9 F0 \& D8 m& s( EMeanwhile, 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.
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; w5 V, G" T NThe 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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1 C# A1 X% ^, h! UThe 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 $235,000, said the LePage study.
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Ken Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.2 A, M5 z' G% p M* n
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"As a result of this debate, the market has receded from the wild pace it experienced last year as buyers are simply no longer interested in paying skyrocketing house prices," he said.4 Y: p3 }) n; I- Q8 y/ r4 K1 P$ T
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According to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:( y6 R2 {; x2 j
2 Q- K. X2 N9 V1 q; u- VSherwood 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.4 s4 q% N5 u+ {
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Spruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year./ d3 }& B% a: ?/ V% U
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Riverbend/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.# v. A' D% `2 V( G2 K
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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 ($310,000.)3 e' h$ c% ?, v" P" s
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St. Albert: The average price of a two-storey home fell by 12.8 per cent to $340,000 while detached bungalows dropped by 12.3 per cent and condos by 13.3 per cent.
. L3 o. x$ l" j, uCastle 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.
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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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