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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.; w3 h ~, c1 U; B+ i k; U2 B" m8 X# C
/ Z4 W" t4 h# l4 `' @$ p$ P“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 2008.4 S7 c' N, c4 ~+ B2 X5 A; @- N* [
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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.
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Over the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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0 s* V, i3 P) X2 ?; N+ ]“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.
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Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.( R$ o! h( n+ @% x. r, _; y
3 f6 T) U E4 ^; W# dBut 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.: ^5 Q0 [- a9 v4 `
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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.$ h$ h4 N4 t$ f q& I3 F/ s
# q9 F0 j* f5 q, }" X“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.% _5 x; f) {* D# v1 u/ y
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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.
% y4 d* I. @, T5 |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.% q2 m" w/ L) z( Z
' L8 r2 Q+ h4 Y2 {' T“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.* K1 O4 o; b2 q* x% a2 Y
; l" f4 t2 ^+ S+ L# ?( GMeanwhile, 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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