 鲜花( 1)  鸡蛋( 0)
|
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 .
! V/ y( H& w5 j2 V8 C
& F. w: w. L% I: |1 [" lThat’s the forecast contained in the House Price Survey and Market Survey Forecast released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services. 0 l3 T! k: m+ c" p- X: X
( E- O$ t% @- r2 ^
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.
' Q2 z, o: Y2 X* K$ t; @
+ j+ H9 t1 E7 C1 k9 Q G“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. ( f1 Y. m% y& S' T9 t: ?
) V( V! A* c1 I) s( r1 DAs of the end of Wednesday, there were 11,184 homes for sale on the Multiple Listing Service, according to the Realtors’ Association of Edmonton.
n' K( }) w8 F$ ?9 `. e* }# L. n/ v- X& r! j# o, O2 K) {
But Alberta’s two biggest cities still boast some of the most expensive real estate in the country, it noted. 6 c& O! `1 ]1 L
0 Y. M1 ~. J2 Y: E4 U4 m" F% m: r“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.” 9 \1 l" L4 F5 R
) m1 J6 n3 i: T' E$ x9 {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.
% b" Z* Q9 i3 ^: X- |) p' B P' U
+ e* m0 `6 w9 |In 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 $397,857.
* Y" Y$ p2 v! ?: c/ Z. f: }' p# Q$ o: V" f) f; J6 g
An average condominium in Edmonton was priced at $226,000, down 14.2 per cent from $263,333 in the comparable 2007 period.
4 {4 v# ]9 d: j8 u& ~
$ d' e( E$ h$ h5 {" d6 ]$ ?9 x“A surge in inventory caused Alberta’s white-hot market to record the country’s only major-market price decreases,” the report said. 5 ^9 C! Q6 S5 A D7 o0 h9 U! l
4 ]5 j- x0 \" \* C# e2 eAcross most of the country, average house prices rose, but more slowly than the spikes seen in 2006 and 2007. 1 |+ a3 Z% h- K
3 a1 L+ b% v+ P; l; `1 g
Royal LePage forecasts the national average house price to rise by 3.5 per cent, to $318,000 by year’s end.
, ]2 p. `! K2 L. @ ?0 h$ _( R2 y8 S+ K) }) j: E9 Y
The report predicts home sale transactions to decrease by 11.5 per cent to 461,000 unit sales by year’s end. |
|