Return to 'normal' seen in Edmonton housing market

vista

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.

0 v7 U' Y0 N0 w' |3 C“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.

4 T6 F# b& ^5 o, B$ f4 m* HThe 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.
: ]9 \# B% R- u, r' b
Condominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.

$ S; Z- a6 Y  ]+ J  G  h/ W0 zOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.

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.
" ?& P% x- v5 Y
Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
4 p) m7 g: l$ B9 z
“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.

; `& C* R; k3 A' l( |Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
+ E. d4 ~) {( h' s, N1 B
  B: ?5 h) g; u4 l( T# W1 q1 h9 GBut 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.

The year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.

“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.
! R: L# `( @; W$ ~/ ~, p
The 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.
/ ]/ G+ O; ^" x3 p- m" bThe 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.
" D& U* s9 X  k3 }
“Nationally, Canadian average house prices are forecast to dip by three per cent from last year to $295,000, while transactions are projected to fall to 416,000 (–3.5 per cent) unit sales in 2009,” the report said.
; [9 t& j4 C; z9 w9 l
: O$ ~6 H8 q* V! @Meanwhile, the Realtors Association of Edmonton will release a recap of the housing market this morning and a forecast of 2009 on Thursday.

宋兵乙

冬腊梅

dezhongxiao

卖房子的房地产公司当然看好市场了。
$ ~. J' @7 N; }' b( B& D# l2 ^所以宣称不会跌了。

BAOMA

听到喜欢听的，自然就愿意相信。
" ?$ d$ s; s5 w9 `3 [3 e- x" _+ x还是让事实来揭晓答案吧。

icing

catty

今天看到经纪人协会分析，说09销售会跌10%，不过没说价格，按照他们的歪嘴惯性，说不定售价+10%，理由是房子卖得少，售价自然就高，供不应求 。

algebra81