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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 . , G' ~& ?9 r" H# F
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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. 4 i4 r/ {6 ^7 U* _" k
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“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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As of the end of Wednesday, there were 11,184 homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, according to the Realtors’ Association of Edmonton. 7 _+ |6 F8 K" W3 U
" j0 \5 L1 D1 d: S' J/ JBut Alberta’s two biggest cities still boast some of the most expensive real estate in the country, it noted. ' {* y. ], I- z2 Y; H
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“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.” 2 ?1 X4 A0 o' K1 L; T8 ^* [
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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 ($374,143), Royal LePage said in its survey of Canadian house prices.
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: h* Y+ @& ~) {$ [) H4 BIn 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 $397,857. 5 g/ A' }, ?5 _$ S
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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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“A surge in inventory caused Alberta’s white-hot market to record the country’s only major-market price decreases,” the report said.
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Across most of the country, average house prices rose, but more slowly than the spikes seen in 2006 and 2007. ' B) T1 i2 q8 G# O
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Royal LePage forecasts the national average house price to rise by 3.5 per cent, to $318,000 by year’s end. + ?) p3 W X; {% o; X4 j6 T, `
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The 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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