Local housing sales in February were down from last year, closely mirroring figures from two years ago, according to the Realtors Association of Edmonton’s most recent figures.
“We’re actually up from 2009 in February for single-family and for condos, they’re just about bang on,” said Lindsay Martin, associate broker and branch manager at Royal LePage ArTeam in St. Albert.
Last month, 36 single-family homes were sold in St. Albert, with an average price of $415,000 and a median of $379,000.
Last February, the number was slightly higher, at 52 units, which sold for an average price of $426,000 and a median of $385,000.
Nineteen condominium units sold for an average price of $249,000 and a median of $244,000.
While last month’s sales were down slightly from the previous February, Martin said the housing market saw an uncharacteristic start to the year in 2010.
“Last year was kind of an atypical start to the year. It was a very, very quick start — January, February, March were really, really good last year. This is more of a typical start to the year and when you look back to 2009, the figures are almost the same,” she said.
“The numbers are right bang on for kind of where we expect them to be,” she said.
Martin said mortgage changes recently announced by the Canadian Mortgage and Housing Association that come into effect on March 18 haven’t had much impact on the market in St. Albert so far.
Those changes include the government no longer backing home equity lines of credit and lowering the percentage by which homeowners — wishing to refinance their home — can mortgage their homes, from 90 to 85 per cent.
Another significant change — lowering the maximum amortization rate from 35 to 30 years, could have some impact on the market, Martin said.
“Because a long amortization of course makes the payments lower so for some people, that could get them out of the market,” she said. “Certainly there will be people who are wanting to get in before that time frame.”
Looking ahead, Martin said she expects a busy spring.
“We’re noticing that the new inventory is starting to build a little bit in order to supply that spring demand which is always the highest demand throughout the year,” she said.
“Things are starting to speed up. We’re seeing new stuff come in on the market and it’s selling right away … if it’s priced right and it shows well.”
