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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; R, Q, x6 k2 K6 M' \# @; d. m1 ^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.

) _3 E  A+ i4 P) |Two-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.
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Font:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.
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; I1 c* `8 l5 dAcross Canada, the survey found, on average, standard condos rose by 0.2 per cent to $243,529.

/ Q2 S  ^3 p) i5 lStandard 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.
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% f# f! `# |+ Q+ ~$ y" Z  @"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.

+ M1 f# ^: ^. I( v7 F0 M' dThe report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.

* C9 b) V0 j- ["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.

6 D' h/ r' u5 X; m6 Xbmah@thejournal.canwest.com