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http://www.edmontonjournal.com/H ... /1248520/story.html# g+ W" r! z( T; _
7 P Q3 H% R+ ^% E6 PEDMONTON — Edmonton’s resale housing market sales kicked off the new year by stumbling out the gate — with residential MLS sales down 40.5 per cent compared to January 2008.
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Every indicator fared worse than it did in January of last year, showed Multiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday.
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; f' n; Y; ^# Y7 l9 G, e- Total MLS sales plunged 40.9 per cent.# i i8 H d+ l: K# K
: N( i& w& o+ \) I2 K3 a- Value of total sales for the month was $265 million — down 42.4 per cent.9 w& f5 \9 l% M; b' Y
3 ]0 o7 ^/ T- |& K+ C% v5 W- The single-family home average selling price fell 7.1 per cent to $352,689.
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0 S9 f% k' x& B; N6 N) w- O' [- The average condo selling price dropped 7.5 per cent to $238,535.
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- F9 U' J' O) i; {& m7 ?% z+ U7 t% g- In the single-family market, there were 502 houses sold, down from 767 in January 2008.
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9 l% O) _6 _; ^+ n- For condos, only 189 sold in January compared to 363 a year ago.
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6 e3 w7 ^2 X8 U- {6 Q& U0 x* `1 iFor all that, Charlie Ponde, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, sounded optimistic, if cautious.
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* U! @ \4 Y3 e: i1 }) j; m# U1 hHe looked on the bright side, the month-by-month comparison — January figures were modestly better than December’s gloomy statistics.8 v6 h7 `* D4 y& t- Z
! H3 u3 a# m7 j2 r% xMultiple Listing Service figures released Tuesday showed 730 residential properties sold in the Edmonton region in January, up from 608 in December.# e" t M( ?2 w0 V
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Sales prices were also up in all categories as compared to the previous month. The average price of a single-family home in January was $352,689 — up a quarter of a per cent compared to December. Condo prices nudged up 1.8 per cent to $238,535 and duplex/rowhouses rose 2.2 per cent to $299,222.* j( E! ]/ j( F, `1 n4 K
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“Nobody rings a bell when prices hit the bottom,” he said. “The bottom is evident only after several months of rising prices. One month does not make a trend but the market is certainly welcoming to home buyers.” @, ?# W0 V4 t) r2 Z. Q. P
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He pointed to interest rates which have fallen to their lowest in years, a large selection of homes and recently introduced federal tax credits for home renovation and a change in the amount of RRSP savings that can be applied to a first-home purchase — now $25,000 up from $20,000. |
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