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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says7 n5 G8 i: c$ ]" f! | A: m0 m7 G% n' o
Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal. G1 R6 B6 x3 N# \$ r4 q: R
Published: 1:31 am0 R# r* S! F0 ~. ^* V$ e
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. d2 h A% y& T: V6 D
% d5 H8 E) l! u* A/ k. A$ \& i1 |, HFigures 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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+ p/ r1 I7 m* Z3 F# aThat'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.
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5 `* S; S, e4 G2 {- qNet 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.4 N: }! F* q Y( W: `1 Z
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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.0 h2 R1 ^ b) S: q
3 w+ u" k6 h+ {; h" ~' THe predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.9 U/ g h3 ]' Y6 g8 }( {
K" h- N L1 W6 i" j' @# @' t"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.
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1 ^: {7 ?( `2 w5 N8 e" ^"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."% I% \3 x u y$ [9 W1 \0 `( ?
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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.
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8 v. r M' P& {& w# {5 t) GThere 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.# V0 e. |+ E: T) }) T: u' \
" H! |* t& x/ w. D0 ^, w) ?The study looked at certain local markets examined and found the average price of a "standard two-storey home" fell 3.7 per cent to $363,707.$ B( I0 h: g, Z$ m/ _
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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.
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Ken Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower., @! k. H, j0 x2 C
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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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According to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:, T3 e3 t0 V: \
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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.4 C+ c7 U" S0 i5 s
5 {6 A3 m G* ]/ C1 hSpruce 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.
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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 ($310,000.)
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4 }% { P3 c. A# b$ iSt. 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.
1 W1 J( t5 T! r4 {6 {Castle Downs: Average detached bungalows fell by 18.6 per cent to $285,000. Average two-storey homes went down 11.4 per cent to $350,000.
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1 ?1 r( B3 A$ |% _+ _) `% y! eClareview: 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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