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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says9 _( v0 f' @" a1 b6 E( L
Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal
+ S$ A) I0 c+ M$ b9 @( O1 BPublished: 1:31 am2 j; K& t( x& F1 v4 z9 v, x& @3 i
EDMONTON - 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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Figures 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.( a1 Z2 H4 Z9 H7 i# X
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That'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.
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5 W+ q# _4 `" ^; i, h$ U: h5 oAssociation president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.0 [1 y4 B; E% _0 z: ] g- Y. z
" Z5 s/ c3 h; }7 VNet 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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0 `2 M [+ L8 [3 K, ^"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.1 d3 [4 B6 c; w0 @" l2 [$ L" X7 X4 e$ Q6 n
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"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.4 D' V3 N4 V* @' L$ c! F
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"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.", q$ i, b. X' x- ^, h. _
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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.
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But the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.3 {9 f8 m! }6 @2 h; m
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There were 1,557 residential properties sold in March with new listings of 4,236 for a sales-to-listing ratio of 37 per cent. Homes spent 51 days on the market, down one day from last month.$ x, e- g# W9 _4 g" W
6 _; T- S( z: a8 GTotal MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.
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# u3 h( f) g6 x7 JMeanwhile, 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 2008.5 U$ N* ?' d- c
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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 $363,707.6 Y" g; V" z& p1 S) _6 H
) G% ]' u/ P* C, 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. X9 a7 E4 y' @# y% X. s5 Q/ H
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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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, ^/ i" C3 W H; e, l"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.: _1 ~% G0 \; ]2 A( r
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According to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:9 M: ]: }2 `. Y Y
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Sherwood Park: Average prices for two-storey homes dropped by 7.1 per cent to $390,000, while detached bungalows and condos were unchanged from last year.
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/ P* k! I# F, X$ q& oSpruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year.( Y, l# |. B- Y9 J, P- C4 y
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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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# h- C! u# O1 Q2 @' C3 G3 o% g1 [5 KLeduc: 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.)
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+ T' q0 S+ K* V; N( z: rSt. 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.
& ]9 z. ~. }; @! K6 {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.
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# S- _" J0 r8 d* I6 `Clareview: 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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