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Average price slips as fewer people moving to Alberta, realtors association says- Y) f# | D* h( v
Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal0 L& N' T- |1 m8 V
Published: 1:31 am% \: _* Q# p% y
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., o" T' a% Z! R, S
. y6 ~6 d& v$ \0 u- ? XFigures 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.
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! D6 C* G4 J8 }' s( ]/ ?- F3 D& HThat'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.& n4 m* t9 S* q- }% D8 I
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Association president Marc Perras said the inventory, about six month's worth, stems largely from fewer people moving to Alberta.8 v6 r: v) ?! D
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Net 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.+ _% m4 ?. n) M
& C' s: @) W* R. T+ 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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# r1 `6 }! v/ Y, _; dHe predicted home prices will increase by the year's end as inventory drops and called the current situation a "stable, normal" market.( r% I% ~& E# i# V6 f/ }6 U% I+ T
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"Our sales volumes are similar to what we saw in 2004 and 2005 and our prices are essentially flat.) U- w! d, \7 n1 d1 o
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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."
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0 A7 o6 \: r+ O$ y& ?8 l4 E: `A single-family home sold in March for an average price of $387,632, down 2.7 per cent from March last year.
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, y% b& w$ E! LBut the average residential price -- including single-family homes, condos, duplexes, mobile homes and others -- was $343,760, 5.66 per cent higher than March 2007.( m2 r; Q6 _. s' x4 W
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There were 1,557 residential properties sold in March with new listings of 4,236 for a sales-to-listing ratio of 37 per cent. Homes spent 51 days on the market, down one day from last month.7 Y$ {0 U# w6 C x
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Total MLS sales in March dropped 31 per cent from a record-setting pace in March 2007.
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' ~- R5 T) d; L- DMeanwhile, 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 2008.6 {- C7 B! x+ ]' {0 Z0 [
. R/ Q7 S' {3 K% `1 LThe study looked at certain local markets examined and found the average price of a "standard two-storey home" fell 3.7 per cent to $363,707.! E, i+ o! c2 d9 N- z
h! `2 o, _$ ?" XThe 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.
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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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"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.' I# ~/ F0 @! ^+ a+ w
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According to the report, prices varied by specific market in the Edmonton region. Here are some highlights:
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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.: J/ D/ l& } g9 M* h7 e
5 d6 U6 a. u: e; b I* u" d( bSpruce Grove: A two-storey home rose 6.9 per cent to $405,000 year-over-year.- g' C* p0 d- k8 a
# U9 z: N' q1 j, G+ V: i: ~5 S* SRiverbend/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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Leduc: 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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2 r& w2 r1 u5 }+ f. DSt. Albert: The average price of a two-storey home fell by 12.8 per cent to $340,000 while detached bungalows dropped by 12.3 per cent and condos by 13.3 per cent.1 g3 g+ Z# w$ u3 r5 p3 a
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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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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