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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says
3 q8 E1 R4 P7 R; QBill Mah, The Edmonton Journal3 M9 B" F1 e, T. W3 R! h0 y5 F
Published: 1:31 am8 n3 g( R T; ]1 {( f. K
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.7 P: ?$ ? z" B
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Figures 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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. {8 ~" Q0 G8 R3 F/ N& ^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.4 W, M3 w0 n1 |- b8 @, j7 [( _
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Association president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.1 q) J2 T7 ]1 i/ O) q
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Net 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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"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.1 ?, T- F( M0 @" j
0 p; h0 I" G" Z5 F; s+ |8 \He predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.& ?( ?7 G# y" H! ]( O1 W
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"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.
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) |5 Q' R$ V N# p$ l' E"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."3 r; n6 E! {* D6 |+ ^, J
( o/ Z& `1 F+ \, y1 m ~* FA single-family home sold in March for an average price of $387,632, down 2.7 per cent from March last year.* ]2 ]1 t1 G! a' J# s
$ P: V+ j- V) Y+ }- ~But the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.& ]: S5 g$ [! ^6 p
8 ]) V! ^/ l# @0 [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.
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Total MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.% I# Z* X* H9 l+ q# g: ^, D
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Meanwhile, 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 2008.9 A1 M+ O- H( u3 i( G
0 K; R! O, ~/ A: V5 C# `/ ^/ |2 TThe 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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The 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.6 ^3 ~" A/ k" \( J/ w
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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.
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: _) R8 d3 ~; E* b/ ^' r3 D( [9 ]# vAccording to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:
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Sherwood 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.. g6 k8 j' Z9 N" A9 }* ^
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Spruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year.
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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.
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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.)
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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." a% F( B5 S9 [) @; R2 [
Castle 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.' @" U/ l2 e) ?7 R" P
% {( n5 `7 j) u& e8 |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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