Double-digit declines for Edmonton home prices

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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.
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The average Multiple Listing Service sale price for an Edmonton bungalow fell 11.8 per cent to $326,429 compared to the third-quarter of 2007, says the market survey.
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; v  D/ _2 Y8 ~, g$ B) f3 VTwo-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.
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' p  F& v/ w# I7 {: d) s; NFont:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.

  C! i( o4 T8 [8 a. X7 [* b. _  m: ZAcross Canada, the survey found, on average, standard condos rose by 0.2 per cent to $243,529.
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Standard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.
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Phil Soper, Royal LePage president and CEO, said Canada's housing market is fundamentally different and stronger economically than the U.S. market being shaken by the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
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. s$ @4 y( Q. U3 N"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.

; q+ ~" ?3 I' W3 i8 SThe report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.

. _4 y( B( t$ M% H"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.
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/ i5 J4 F0 l6 n+ _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.
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bmah@thejournal.canwest.com