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 $342,857 in the Edmonton market.
% Q0 r$ f( Y! l& W
$ a6 D* S" |1 G% U7 G( @8 q
) A/ H6 O# j( f% kEmail to a friend

# z, Y" O, \9 E2 t1 DPrinter friendly
& w# K! C: {9 b9 {7 kFont:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.
6 J; N# ^2 x- F, Q" F$ v2 J: g
  U; ?( E* e' A  _: N" H  WAcross Canada, the survey found, on average, standard condos rose by 0.2 per cent to $243,529.

Standard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.
" I! X9 B. x* {9 H6 @) s
3 t, X% |) c2 r/ DPhil 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.

"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.
/ l  S' |# n: o& l! g
% l) ^! b5 {1 R' b# j" sThe report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.
: t- u5 q0 W+ `1 _* d
! m# }  h; ~8 Q# l- I8 c: q"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