Return to 'normal' seen in Edmonton housing market

vista

EDMONTON — Prices for single-family homes in the Edmonton region dropped while condo prices rallied in December, according to figures released today by the Realtors Association of Edmonton.
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“That’s a 180-degree twist from what we saw in the month of November,” said outgoing association president Marc Perras.

The average price for a single family home dropped by three per cent to $351,870 after remaining flat for two months. That’s $30,000 less than the average price of a single family dwelling at the start of 2008.

2 ]/ o1 \. K  t; ICondominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.
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+ S  k2 y2 a( M6 o& |7 O4 lOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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" _' {' S0 _3 S. c7 z& K; u& tResidential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.

5 a7 Q1 a" t9 G2 x  u$ ^“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.

Neither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.
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' m& `: L# N* }9 n% @5 D0 PBut one real estate company predicted Tuesday that after months of sluggish sales and slipping prices, Edmonton’s housing will return to “a normal state” in 2009.

' K" a' E. w8 X4 {. M# G; DThe year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.

1 i0 Z' x8 M) D% t! {+ i+ D“The combination of healthy employment levels, historically low interest rates and good affordability — something the city has not seen in a while — will all bolster Edmonton’s housing resale market in 2009,” said the survey.
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The report predicts the average local house price to hold steady at $333,000 this year. The number of homes sold is expected to increase by three per cent to 17,825 units, it said.
: |, ~& S7 v2 F+ u# sThe company added that a glut of homes that burdened the market shrank in 2008 and will get smaller in 2009, putting Edmonton in a balanced market.

“Nationally, Canadian average house prices are forecast to dip by three per cent from last year to $295,000, while transactions are projected to fall to 416,000 (–3.5 per cent) unit sales in 2009,” the report said.
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Meanwhile, the Realtors Association of Edmonton will release a recap of the housing market this morning and a forecast of 2009 on Thursday.

宋兵乙

冬腊梅

dezhongxiao

卖房子的房地产公司当然看好市场了。
& g/ }) l$ J/ s. T所以宣称不会跌了。

BAOMA

听到喜欢听的，自然就愿意相信。
3 B2 x6 i% r7 X% [1 P+ W还是让事实来揭晓答案吧。

icing

catty

今天看到经纪人协会分析，说09销售会跌10%，不过没说价格，按照他们的歪嘴惯性，说不定售价+10%，理由是房子卖得少，售价自然就高，供不应求 。

algebra81