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.

" k$ M6 A0 s0 L; g' Q* ?+ J  G+ M3 IThe 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.
9 |! a4 J4 q0 o3 C( O
Two-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.


Email to a friend
0 _+ e% H' L  A2 c
. X# h0 Y1 Q; ~8 wPrinter friendly
Font:****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.
9 L4 S' {/ H. k
" M6 y  s# Z9 v. R# |6 a2 XStandard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.

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.

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.

; q, S5 T5 s0 [# NThe 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