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.

The 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.

Two-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.
# X/ N# U$ `6 r2 ~2 K. J

Email to a friend
; E& X( h; j3 B
Printer friendly
Font:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.
7 {. l( }3 ~, }- ^. |% B
Across Canada, the survey found, on average, standard condos rose by 0.2 per cent to $243,529.

+ x! Q/ b1 T# ~3 T; M& UStandard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.
, }: d: ]9 U# g' e; t/ x8 d
5 n. {0 y1 E* TPhil 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.
; f+ J( }+ [! Z; E% V. v
"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.
% A2 \8 b; e* C' P& G) c
The report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.

1 u- e  B# q4 y, [  F"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.
2 J( J) R1 h" {' M2 l
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.

) k2 ]+ h0 n- A3 X; U; Q% Xbmah@thejournal.canwest.com