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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.
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“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.. i5 R7 L* \5 [
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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.& |2 G/ U# q1 U
: Z7 T5 p% d2 k4 }! JCondominium 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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Over the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286. y. p" `5 ]# y: Z& M }3 E; D
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.; _9 {) s% V& q2 }8 r7 ]
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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8 J9 r2 f5 s8 ?, e“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.# E9 P$ K- |- F ?: T7 C
( s6 Q: T/ M+ P, PNeither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.6 u/ `5 S) k; ^( t" p$ k0 m
( s' S! a' \ ?. J' _ bBut 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.# l( r( |! U' X. L
8 f. D* M: U& w! R+ x" ~The year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.* k9 P0 m9 V9 t- Q/ N$ y
0 j9 c1 b7 ]) P“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.; Y4 X8 r- c( O! A7 K( \; W, a
+ k# o$ M: A, y* _: ~The report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.: N. a5 {( P" b, [7 N3 P4 G
The company added that a glut of homes that burdened the market shrank in 2008 and will get smaller in 2009, putting Edmonton in a balanced market.
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$ f o( N2 m4 F; v' m, h“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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3 p( s8 }0 A4 HMeanwhile, 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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