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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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# Q) p9 ?% w3 _, H0 H- r1 Q“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.0 H5 B- a" H; k& I }" A. C( `
; w: a% S- U! c JThe 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 N* V; G. V* B9 B
. I' P: B _6 ?2 {Condominium 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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# v# L0 G( s r S! v8 uOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286., V6 h% S* V- J% n7 E
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.) `; V% Y1 c% _, k9 ]7 h
" T& K7 Z9 l1 w8 Y! v$ g$ DResidential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.
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0 Y9 P5 l/ N9 x. f+ {' d8 bNeither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
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/ p9 D) h7 A/ q7 q5 d1 v# f! vBut 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 2009.3 [; Y, B) r- _
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The year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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! u8 G; p: N* Q2 ]4 F. Q, `7 a. E“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.- O8 @# L3 ~7 f% R) [. K
- a6 W N* E) jThe report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.
) ^: W8 [ E# zThe company added that a glut of homes that burdened the market shrank in 2008 and will get smaller in 2009, putting Edmonton in a balanced market.
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" n$ H5 `% w7 l/ _4 l“Nationally, Canadian average house prices are forecast to dip by three per cent from last year to $295,000, while transactions are projected to fall to 416,000 (–3.5 per cent) unit sales in 2009,” the report said.( t8 h. \+ l" C* P) q8 W: K
1 _5 m5 U* |9 N* c! O- z2 g$ p9 WMeanwhile, 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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