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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html& ~, G1 Z/ D( [' |7 b$ o$ f
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EDMONTON — 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.# |- ^6 R4 G9 j) Y
* D P3 R1 S2 l& w2 mEvery indicator fared worse than it did in January of last year, showed Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday.
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- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.
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- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent.9 i+ Z; ~9 G% r# i2 w
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- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689.0 w% n& {; }* m t- h. M
" d( B7 H# r1 N* a' G- K- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535.( @3 p# Q+ }0 {! w+ h1 J6 [
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- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.
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- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.
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$ h/ Y; j, N3 J3 }* lFor all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.
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He looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics.
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9 U" g) k' T8 b" c* k& I. mMultiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December.) A+ ^7 ~/ K$ w( o8 m, t, a
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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 $299,222.5 k1 W# q1 L7 u9 G$ k
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“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.”, s3 Y# q& ^! D0 K$ l" ^" Z: v
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He 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. |
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