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EDMONTON – By the end of the year, Edmonton could get something it hasn’t seen for several years — a “normalized” housing market — as homes for sale dry up and prices drop . * S( ?4 j; A2 e$ E5 _: ~8 \1 }
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That’s the forecast contained in the House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
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A soaring number of homes put on the market especially by builders and speculators in the last year softened the city’s housing market during the second quarter, the report said. / X: o" _9 \" d9 O
( b9 {# Y" f" g5 B8 f; a0 p- ?“The high inventory levels will dwindle into the second half of the year, and as affordability improves, subsequent market conditions will continue to normalize,” the report said.
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# u$ |* q7 j* A% \" t( HAs of the end of Wednesday, there were 11,184 homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, according to the Realtors’ Association of Edmonton. ; L- h* J2 h1 j4 R5 O3 E9 [# x
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But Alberta’s two biggest cities still boast some of the most expensive real estate in the country, it noted. 0 o m7 Y8 x. I
' T: w5 ~+ L0 b M“Despite some mild price erosion during the second quarter in both Calgary and Edmonton, these markets remain strong. Although prices have come down from where they were last year — one of the best years on record — current house prices are far higher than they were three years ago before energy-rich Alberta experienced its boom.” 0 e. e6 K! S `0 F; R
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The average price for a detached bungalow in Edmonton in April, May and June was $320,000, down about 14.5 per cent from the same period in 2007 ($374,143), Royal LePage said in its survey of Canadian house prices.
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3 u* t: h0 ]: L( t4 i0 h7 K& yIn the second quarter of 2008, a two-storey house in Edmonton sold for an average price of $348,571, down 12.4 per cent year-over-year from $397,857. ; y# u, d/ k2 S2 Z/ X( C
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An average condominium in Edmonton was priced at $226,000, down 14.2 per cent from $263,333 in the comparable 2007 period.
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8 P, c7 ]3 Z: H2 H“A surge in inventory caused Alberta’s white-hot market to record the country’s only major-market price decreases,” the report said. 5 B s9 J1 i3 C: F" g& H
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Across most of the country, average house prices rose, but more slowly than the spikes seen in 2006 and 2007.
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8 O7 o0 L* ]- E6 K; U2 LRoyal LePage forecasts the national average house price to rise by 3.5 per cent, to $318,000 by year’s end.
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& q1 J) d( W7 W; O% s, P. `( nThe report predicts home sale transactions to decrease by 11.5 per cent to 461,000 unit sales by year’s end. |
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