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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.5 D9 c) m- X0 Y. }5 k
/ X, n# ~; p) W, C“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras. R4 ]7 J& K& c* q X
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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. O3 P6 R! ~4 K
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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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7 _* d5 y* ?: K8 COver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.6 j: U1 A! C- S3 M7 N
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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- |& i3 ?/ ^8 @# P9 O5 XResidential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.$ }* p3 e9 A- k/ T5 u
' q( T/ Z' |& Y. n/ `# @“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.& ]: J6 A& x2 D1 }7 `( Y$ R
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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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But 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.' g3 V1 [* L! n- @1 N8 t
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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. C* z* A* a: ]1 J
' c5 @- @0 F" U8 [' h“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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% r/ y5 Q( \7 \/ C& m4 x2 A& sThe 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.# |; S& o, m/ ]- ^. R- j
The 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.( S" p, C& w6 ~1 r+ r1 p& t
3 u* r+ o9 C- f3 g“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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