Edmonton real estate flips to buyer's market

Edmonton realtors say it is now officially a buyer's market as home prices fell 5.3 per cent in November, the biggest drop so far this year.

Carolyn Pratt, president of the Edmonton Real Estate Board, said the market is correcting itself after reaching a peak in the spring when there was little to choose from and houses were selling quickly.

The city's market fell across the board last month:

• Single-family homes sold on average for $376,267, down 5.3 per cent.
• Condo sales averaged $252,277, down four per cent.
• Duplex/rowhouses sold on average for $311,193, down 15.4 per cent.

It now takes an average of 51 days to sell a home.

"Everybody is just taking a little more time now to buy because they are not feeling pressured as they did in the spring season," said Pratt.

"The economy as you know is the strongest in Canada, so there's no reason to think that we won't continue to have a very good real estate market."

Pratt says the average house price in Edmonton is still 12 per cent higher than it was one year ago.

The last largest monthly decrease was 3.2 per cent in August.

Source: http://www.cbc.ca/consumer/story/2007/12/04/buyers-market.html#skip300x250