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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says, ~6 D4 p9 B# \' Z p7 j6 r+ Y* \
Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal a7 u ^4 F' k4 n% ]6 z8 g
Published: 1:31 am
* u9 G; N5 i! f' XEDMONTON - 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.
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& j# i V" i: I2 cFigures 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.( q, A; d2 _4 e) i4 v9 J
) \7 U. @/ _9 xThat'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.* O9 Y2 e+ j9 O% P0 {
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Association 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.
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8 Q% |6 Y/ L; n; Q9 s"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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He predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.
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"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.
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" j' x" X3 u1 A"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."$ g. H7 V4 p' A5 V$ g* Z' M9 l
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A single-family home sold in March for an average price of $387,632, down 2.7 per cent from March last year./ a$ ?( L1 z" U" q6 [
$ k6 q; i+ V% c& GBut the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.' y) o, h% l, ~) ^
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There were 1,557 residential properties sold in March with new listings of 4,236 for a sales-to-listing ratio of 37 per cent. Homes spent 51 days on the market, down one day from last month.: g- o0 |3 Q* C5 ]2 |2 ~
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Total MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.
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; { H" \6 V$ J p) yMeanwhile, 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.
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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.; w0 K0 u3 P6 O& @% J/ s
0 N) @: i3 J3 A2 @# P+ VThe 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 $235,000, said the LePage study.
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Ken Shearer, a Royal LePage broker and owner, said debate over energy royalties kept house prices lower.
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$ \$ c0 ^0 x4 I! L* G' n. E"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.% \# ^. t; i! {# i! ]+ h
; O) v# p6 z2 [& m! K3 b2 U0 N* W, XAccording to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:
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1 o4 Z4 E, p& GSherwood 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.
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. ^" F% ^; v ^1 I+ BLeduc: 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.)2 u; J7 @4 j1 c- h
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St. Albert: The average price of a two-storey home fell by 12.8 per cent to $340,000 while detached bungalows dropped by 12.3 per cent and condos by 13.3 per cent./ d' `9 K# X8 ~; O! T& B, o: L4 n$ n
Castle Downs: Average detached bungalows fell by 18.6 per cent to $285,000. Average two-storey homes went down 11.4 per cent to $350,000.2 k/ V4 M. F2 C. N4 F+ X
! s+ ?) q% P& GClareview: 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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