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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.1 \. s$ H7 @: D: p2 m2 }4 w( b. X
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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.- X% D$ t/ W2 k1 G
- E; a4 x5 ^% l# R1 GThe average price for a single family home dropped by three per cent to $351,870 after remaining flat for two months. That’s $30,000 less than the average price of a single family dwelling at the start of 2008.
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2 d: Z5 Y8 p& M1 t/ [Condominium prices — which fell more than eight per cent in the previous two months — edged up 1.2 per cent over November.. g* ^( L2 K% K4 e$ E% {9 M8 S
6 D1 d7 G2 y& WOver the year, condo prices dropped 7.5 per cent from $253,270 to $234,286.+ Y% b; g0 Y) E3 W" d
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At the end of December, there were 6,316 homes in inventory. The sales to listing ratio was 46 per cent and average days on market was 65, up two from November.
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Residential sales plunged by 29.1 per cent in December to 608. Perras blamed cold weather and global economic uncertainty.+ `3 x- B' ^) L8 ]7 E Y8 X- F$ ^
7 X' A. \* O& i% I# U; U$ r A“Who wants to tour homes when both your toes and your portfolio are frozen?” Perras said.
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2 ]) i5 v+ ~; @* T+ DNeither Perras, nor incoming president Charlie Ponde would release a resale market forecast for 2009 until a news conference scheduled for Thursday.0 s2 J" f: y# c3 U
- x8 S) z# l* Q4 z. }1 b3 YBut 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.% c' l D7 c# w) y7 m# `5 x
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The year will bring stable average house prices and gradually increasing sales, according to the Royal LePage 2009 Market Survey Forecast.
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“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.
8 i! @2 b2 F! D* P7 VThe 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.
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- z @7 n+ u5 n7 w“Nationally, Canadian average house prices are forecast to dip by three per cent from last year to $295,000, while transactions are projected to fall to 416,000 (–3.5 per cent) unit sales in 2009,” the report said.
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+ n$ u4 e" P9 i( W y. kMeanwhile, the Realtors Association of Edmonton will release a recap of the housing market this morning and a forecast of 2009 on Thursday. |
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