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.
- H9 p& h1 ]( k# o
Two-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.

* F8 Z+ v7 v/ c
& P& H# _# D- W" P3 |% j7 rEmail to a friend
3 M9 B  K  ]# j, w) |
Printer friendly
$ c& I8 t8 i4 i6 i+ c6 sFont:****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 $243,529.
( g! S# w% h, J4 }" _
0 l$ y/ `& m% T! \$ zStandard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.
! D; a) U2 b$ y  s
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.

"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.
7 a# T1 D+ O1 _" B3 A
/ C& D. w7 f9 GThe report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.

"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.
$ U! c: z% T- X7 G
) J3 m6 C" g7 W7 s( 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.
& w' z: }* ^4 ^: w6 g7 R6 W# e/ g
bmah@thejournal.canwest.com