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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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3 c! Z, H1 R( q) |0 e& }The average price for a single family home dropped by three per cent to $351,870 after remaining flat for two months. That’s $30,000 less than the average price of a single family dwelling at the start of 2008.
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Condominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.$ N7 z' n7 L. t% |
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Over the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.0 X+ [. e3 }3 z
9 F: I1 F1 b$ ^. J b6 Q' A; ~& ]Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.
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“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.% K% L7 O; M) b: i
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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.% G% z: c) |$ ~" S; U
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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 2009.8 P# P; N: v6 A0 K
; q4 `5 j. C5 j- K6 \/ G8 k" R- uThe year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.0 V" N7 n% }4 Y& s+ _ f2 ^5 f- K
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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./ m; r+ b( x u( q4 `
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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.6 a9 G: l o2 z3 r3 [7 h u: G. o
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.
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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.
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1 |" G/ K8 J4 m+ 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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