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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says
1 ]9 J. j) o; S9 g ]Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal
. v# _+ v' |" [Published: 1:31 am
3 V, c8 ?/ T! h/ LEDMONTON - 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.
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9 |% O4 e7 Z6 U. \* K! pFigures 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.3 E" I" o3 ]! {
) n: ~% T# c6 [ [2 ]9 D) {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.* V4 g3 o& |5 `( M) u
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' E% u1 }% ?/ ?' q2 R* XAssociation president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta./ U$ P' I4 U# [8 l/ M2 m
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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.% F* T$ q$ y! b: B9 e- D7 K
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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.
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/ b1 d. A5 [: B9 l2 x8 c9 A1 l; wHe predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.
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& b' q. U& b0 d' `8 d"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.
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"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.": v j/ a1 A4 d; c& L' b# m
6 }1 R) [! u1 ?! ~2 I, [A single-family home sold in March for an average price of $387,632, down 2.7 per cent from March last year.
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But the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.! Y4 K5 w$ Q% ]$ V
$ W* g4 H7 u, U* ^% t9 M; pThere 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.- [7 T" E) N1 G& b! ^# j
+ l, q) l# o9 E1 z% X }. g0 i* `# _Total MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.
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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.
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8 \! S9 |- p8 C2 x' 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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& B+ o# X* r% N0 Y: U; u' D1 dThe 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 $235,000, said the LePage study.) y0 a9 o. }' H' j5 J# h
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Ken Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.$ a' ?8 n8 p! Y) T2 g
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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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: O8 D& U1 H7 w& XAccording 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 $390,000, while detached bungalows and condos were unchanged from last year.$ m b& v8 A4 r9 ?5 V# }0 g
% ~# L0 G5 |7 ]! o+ S5 R% t" JSpruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year.
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) E0 O* T X9 ^: X/ ZRiverbend/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 $235,000.3 ~) z: v; m, I" ?* N- \. a
* x9 L5 r6 o3 yLeduc: 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.)7 k& X8 q! V* ~) X+ d/ W
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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 u1 y, N- ^5 J( Z% wCastle Downs: Average detached bungalows fell by 18.6 per cent to $285,000. Average two-storey homes went down 11.4 per cent to $350,000.3 Y9 J9 @8 }/ d0 Y, d. ]) j# c
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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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