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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says8 m3 T$ e% l1 K, d$ [, U# C
Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal) r& l/ f" l0 \" T* e
Published: 1:31 am+ R- d" Z: l0 v w; D
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.0 Z8 `4 Z2 }. {
- {; |" D" I$ m3 F3 VFigures 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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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.
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Association president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.; K$ O% w% W4 G! r( l8 r
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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.1 q7 o0 n" I& X5 I9 U
: n; C! e7 S# t" ]# K$ B5 |"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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He predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.1 v m3 N: i* u( i, j& {
. S$ ^ r) s9 j1 ~( S/ I! u"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."5 z# R0 t' i, ~; g% P. ~
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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 $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.$ T4 ?. w# B! m+ R, A) ]4 ? V5 n
" V( T7 }& H. z* l1 C, ]3 n |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.
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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./ H, U% i9 O5 P6 Z' Q
4 y2 ~: [# e) a5 o' j$ {! vThe 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.+ ^9 z. W9 R1 [& Y0 c5 S+ } B* b
N! ]( w+ m- U+ Z0 H( ~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 $235,000, said the LePage study.! k0 l" v9 ]1 L( Z; ?0 Z- D$ b$ T; G
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Ken Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.
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k W& d* s1 W* C* Z"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.6 W* |& ^2 ?8 f3 d
+ F0 s: R2 K; }. 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.
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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 $235,000.: g) Y, r1 a, D ?$ {+ \% F
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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.
. p# M. Z5 R* r# zCastle 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.! b. |9 z, R9 k, Q0 K0 y; B% z' S6 K
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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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