Lower resale housing prices create choice for home buyers
Edmonton, October 3, 2007: In 2006, and the first half of 2007, the super heated economy in Alberta caused housing prices to rise steadily. Panicked home buyers were forced to make decisions quickly from a severely limited selection of houses and condos. At the end of the third quarter of 2007 buyers are more relaxed as they contemplate slightly lower prices and three times the choice of a year ago.
“Every market has fluctuations and this market is still correcting after a dramatic upswing.” said Carolyn Pratt, President of the REALTORS® Association. “Right now buyers can take advantage of prices that are below the peak of last May. Sellers, on the other hand, are still realizing significant equity gains from prices that are still 23.5% above this time last year.” Single family dwellings rose 74% in price from January 2006 to May 2007. SFD prices have settled back just six percent since then.

According to the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton, single family dwellings listed on the Multiple Listing Service® sold on average* for $399,555 in the Edmonton area in August. This is down just 1% from last month. Condominiums on MLS® sold on average for $270,745 (up 0.6%) and duplex/rowhouses were down 6% and sold for $310,110 on average. The average residential sales price (which includes all types of residential property) was down 0.15% from last month at $344,286.

The sales-to-listing ratio in September was 26% with 3,952 residential listings and 1,042 sales. As a result, the residential inventory increased 7.4% from August 2007. There were 9,918 homes available at the end of September as compared to 9,185 at the end of August. Average days-on-market in September was up seven to 43 days.

At the end of the third quarter, year-to-date sales were down slightly compared to last year. Total residential sales were 17,188 units, down 1.5% from the same time last year with a YTD sales-to-listing ratio of 52%.
“The Edmonton MLS® is still the best place to advertise or find homes for sale in this market," said Pratt. "The amount of data on current prices and market conditions gathered and shared by over 3,200 REALTORS® cannot be matched by any other market source.” She advised buyers to watch MLS®.ca and consult with their REALTOR® to keep up with the hundreds of homes listed and sold each day and price adjustments on existing inventory.

The north central quadrant of the city was the most active with 83 SFD sales while the Central and northwest regions were the least active with just 18 sales each. Central also offered the most affordable single family homes with median sales below $300,000. An average priced house in the southwest was priced at $517,106. Outside the City of Edmonton, St. Albert was the most active community with 38 SFD sales and the highest average price of $497,380. Six homes sold in Morinville where the average price was just $327,333.

View stats at http://www.ereb.com/marketactivity/September2007.html