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.

6 a3 z+ v! |' ?$ Y" H4 l+ x/ H$ q, \Two-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.
& z7 ^- Q& e- W5 j

Email to a friend

+ T# V) J. c: d5 u% Z8 \$ ePrinter friendly
Font:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.
2 f4 e! f& G0 ]8 b6 j
Across Canada, the survey found, on average, standard condos rose by 0.2 per cent to $243,529.

  J5 g# ^% v; w( JStandard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.

2 a# U# P' u8 D( g' T4 _# t7 YPhil 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.

2 z2 `7 c* W" f! |& l"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.

2 F% P. ]- U' G) G; q: r4 gThe report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.
/ k. w  N. P: k" X8 ~
"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.

7 d- E  L; T' SThe 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