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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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“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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5 ~) D: s4 A8 G8 AThe 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., \! \4 F. Z- M6 a9 i
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Condominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.+ `2 U1 @3 K; { n
/ E" H ~2 o5 o- O3 K hOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.! ~" j) P8 j# ?2 ?/ ~' [9 w% V
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.' ^0 l3 W8 B# e ^% X
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.3 U. o( a8 z4 [8 O- F
9 i1 l8 W+ L) Q6 F L$ DNeither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.! Y8 W: W% I* h, _, [; h# t% H$ D
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But 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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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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“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.2 [/ U- A9 C0 K+ K& R$ G
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The report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.
8 }$ ^9 p* W# a5 z sThe 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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“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.8 Y5 s# D2 \1 y3 v q
! g0 n) C/ f+ V( q. F0 E( ~' jMeanwhile, 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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