Just as Edmonton-area home sales slowed from December’s pace and overall prices dropped, the number of new listings doubled in January as home sellers returned to the market.

There were 2,199 residential listings added during January, up from 1,118 new listings in December, according to figures released Tuesday by the Realtors Association of Edmonton.

“The message is getting out that we are seeing some lower inventory as well as larger buyer demand,”

said president Larry Westergard.

“They see that there are people that are interested and they do have a market for their property.”

He also knows some sellers who had been waiting for notice from builders that their new homes are nearly ready.

Westergard had warned last month that if a relatively low supply of home listings continued, it could tilt the market toward sellers and boost prices higher than expected.

The boost in listings came as single-family houses sold through the Multiple Listing Service fell 6.8 per cent compared to December.

“The number of sales is slow compared to December, but if you compare it year-over-year, we’re 154 transactions ahead.”

The 884 residential sales posted in January is 21 per cent ahead of January 2009.

Single-family home prices on average held stable at $367,747 in January, up slightly from December’s $366,761. On a yearly basis, that’s up about four per cent.

The single-family dwelling median price was $356,000, up 1.3 per cent from a year earlier.

Condo prices dropped two per cent month-to-month to $239,006 — up only 0.1 per cent year-over-year.

Duplex and row house prices rose 1.5 per cent to $300,563 on a monthly basis.

“We expect that the local market will continue to be robust and prices will trend upwards through the year.”

January’s sales to listing ratio was 40 per cent and there were 4,864 homes listed at month’s end. That’s up from about 4,000 listings at the end of December.

Average days on market was 57 days.

Source:
By Bill Mah
Edmonton Journal

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