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.

" d7 @5 ?8 |& J% X6 F" hThe 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.
# i3 h7 f+ D, V0 J1 ^- I  z
6 t# Z( z. N' ]; s" OTwo-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.

6 e7 F- l2 c2 e
# C6 K1 u# C5 UEmail to a friend

# ]( i4 u1 E9 BPrinter friendly
Font:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.
  l* a$ a' s; T4 C0 C
% V8 b$ G5 @* R) j7 R1 uAcross Canada, the survey found, on average, standard condos rose by 0.2 per cent to $243,529.
. n) l: j+ q# F+ u, T6 M6 m
Standard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.
) U1 G- _- L" y& {8 L# M
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.

9 t, L, `/ m$ `  i/ p"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.
6 m! @. o3 i" ~
The 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.

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.
. h$ l9 r# M# [0 e8 m; O8 s
bmah@thejournal.canwest.com