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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says$ F, A6 u7 l: K, `
Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal
6 J) T' R" V- g# R( o+ Y# HPublished: 1:31 am
0 S$ i! t( m) G2 C" G8 EEDMONTON - 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.+ h2 Y4 K5 ~5 H9 F( [* \9 _0 @3 \
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Figures 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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That'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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5 Z) N* y7 i) vAssociation president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.
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Net 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.7 J, r( K1 j# l
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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.
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) s W- T, z+ ~: V1 k8 nHe predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.0 y, G5 S% H( P' b. n2 K: ^
8 n' U" P4 `7 _0 g/ Q"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.
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. C6 |. ^6 P; B( c& l! Q"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."
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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.( o0 v/ i' q# N1 h8 r9 V# `
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But the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.8 D+ D7 X7 [ d. O6 O. t
+ Q9 B! c4 L8 [There were 1,557 residential properties sold in March with new listings of 4,236 for a sales-to-listing ratio of 37 per cent. Homes spent 51 days on the market, down one day from last month.
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Total MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.9 ?$ R/ R B) ^2 l
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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.; Z2 U2 z$ ?- b1 `% j
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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.& l/ a% R' y* C9 @- J) C
' T/ f" T. u/ |- U; ~# ~3 G3 cThe 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. U: j/ {% L# Y; w. k; v) s# y
8 P# \1 H) {7 I/ w- rKen Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.
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0 U/ { M) l- }, d"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.( m& v, Z5 F/ k- i# ^
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According to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:- V& j c: [& W; ?5 T
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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.
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Spruce 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 $235,000.$ f7 b: J) J; B7 W
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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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# x" `6 K6 g2 ]( p: xSt. 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.
/ j( E1 C7 J" ?( nCastle 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./ v4 C4 o3 d& c; k7 q2 Z( s
( Z7 Z/ r7 P* S0 lClareview: 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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