 鲜花( 0)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html, ~7 M5 _1 \ ]) `5 T
% X/ A6 d+ e9 B' h! j. j3 J* MEDMONTON — 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.
" s) Z' s; v' [( G' e4 t# {* W8 D. H L& N. A
Every indicator fared worse than it did in January of last year, showed Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday.
* R3 Y$ g- }+ ]3 x; C* @2 r! J5 w1 ?0 O0 M. V8 O; ]8 N/ L6 l
- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.1 |# d6 k' z: |
^+ g- x: w, R; |! t- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent.
8 x) k( a7 i0 ~2 ^( m6 Y$ H6 ]/ C& \# \. K
- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689." @$ ?7 N Y Z, g
/ o2 G3 x6 q: U8 j" {- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535.
' O/ A) a: u- C) ?% ^# r4 e ~% A( ?; m3 h
- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.- d* w2 d5 P% T( \; R" z
- {& R# `8 ?5 @* c% ~3 l. |) Z
- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.
% C6 n- x, h4 r, s' y. h- }+ u; z0 w1 z8 M) L1 L- k+ U
For all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.
. s8 S* Z J" E
3 W2 d" k, {7 ~% B! _He looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics.2 `# I% m/ `/ E4 `6 R! J$ b
% [0 E" e4 |& C$ z( z
Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December. d. W" E% F7 G
0 R3 r8 f% h+ ?3 _/ ESales 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 $299,222.4 V, B6 S8 v% M( c* Z
0 u8 v/ p1 u& s$ ^
“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.”3 n4 M6 d$ w: J2 X
6 @% k+ P$ n- g% ^$ P, iHe 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. |
|