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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.; x' O" t: K* H
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“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.
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The average price for a single family home dropped by three per cent to $351,870 after remaining flat for two months. That’s $30,000 less than the average price of a single family dwelling at the start of 2008.
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7 ^# x8 X0 Y+ K8 i9 {Condominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.
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4 Z: ?! Z% D, l6 t' j$ x* ] F: _Over the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.- _# {8 F: o2 X3 b3 |3 C
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.# k- x) X& ?% I7 I2 R& |3 x
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.' o: O) T. |: m0 V) W
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Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
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% ^* N" r0 [) D( E" PBut one real estate company predicted Tuesday that after months of sluggish sales and slipping prices, Edmonton’s housing will return to “a normal state” in 2009.
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3 W2 y1 _8 }1 a& H" e3 g$ KThe year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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( g$ J; {. H( l6 T“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.! I' h+ N7 s! @+ t" W9 [8 U# c: ^
2 o8 o$ x! c3 P3 G9 wThe 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.
, ^1 ^! F1 k) A7 @The 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.# \4 A- @ a0 I# J
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“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.& @- i/ S, ?* p4 q% p+ M( w/ O; @
# ^3 r! \3 s+ ^0 M3 c1 N/ [( {Meanwhile, 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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