Double-digit declines for Edmonton home prices

qbxl400

EDMONTON - While average resale home prices across Canada nudged upward in the third quarter, Edmonton saw double-digit declines from last year in bungalows, two-storeys and standard condos, says a report released today by real estate firm Royal LePage.
/ |# \0 T- N# O$ d
7 e1 U5 L1 ^) N) U, zThe average Multiple Listing Service sale price for an Edmonton bungalow fell 11.8 per cent to $326,429 compared to the third-quarter of 2007, says the market survey.
" f  ^* \8 D% m; }
; |. I9 l) U8 n  F, u( Y& R2 hTwo-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.

7 t8 w' r% ^$ E3 d7 d$ [! o
Email to a friend

Printer friendly
Font:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.

Across Canada, the survey found, on average, standard condos rose by 0.2 per cent to $243,529.
7 A+ c) L. M$ D
Standard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.
7 x; o, A+ ~( q) z9 \% D; a
Phil Soper, Royal LePage president and CEO, said Canada's housing market is fundamentally different and stronger economically than the U.S. market being shaken by the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
7 s  U3 ]6 n7 l. m
"Average house price appreciation curves are beginning to flatten, but this is a completely natural reaction to the explosive gains that characterized the market earlier this decade," Soper said in a release.
* Z" Y" x( K1 Y
The report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.
6 H: [/ U0 R/ u* d% l1 Y
, Z# ?( u6 d% o( `9 ?"As such, the recent price decline is merely a correction to the dramatic run-up in prices that both Edmonton and Calgary experienced in the past few years," the report said.

The survey said the year-over-year drop in the Calgary market varied from a decline of 8.7 per cent for a standard two-storey home, 8.2 per cent for a standard condominium and 6.2 per cent for a detached bungalow.

bmah@thejournal.canwest.com