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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.9 B2 p' K" D) L& ~8 s: k7 g
# A: t6 A3 c" U4 f1 N2 A( o) z“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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$ c! n2 X I- l% ^, C8 o WThe 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.
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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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2 j# j( `+ G ?# z6 cOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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: u0 p _9 C0 A# N3 N6 v" ~At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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% {* v6 t3 B( ?+ U1 s& S5 i8 MResidential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.( p5 ]4 y; ^, W6 r( }# m. R
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.$ x3 w% g* H) H4 P
9 K% x7 s2 k# K, k0 v9 @Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.4 Q' k7 h! p% n( l6 D6 {/ W
$ K: Q6 V* c4 o$ r7 A0 F8 eBut 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.$ F, J4 D' l3 X Q- f9 l9 R6 `
% [9 c+ m3 ?" k& l; g/ W, GThe year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.$ @% C6 _. j: q$ D* t4 ]6 {; J
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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.
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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.
' e9 A9 q6 A+ zThe 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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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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