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.

Two-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.
( j( b' I7 {$ n) G7 z( y: k
- S4 N4 R: ^: e% `- i: n4 x
Email to a friend
& Q; }% b0 W% g. F6 @  ]+ z& @, d- u
Printer friendly
) v  a3 D5 U' m6 h* B7 D3 u5 ^Font:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.
' Z( n) K$ E& w' `4 H
9 K8 m+ {% `4 h1 I5 {* [Across Canada, the survey found, on average, standard condos rose by 0.2 per cent to $243,529.

Standard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.

+ Q4 b; v$ v( n' Q$ GPhil 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.
7 h' @% C* `6 x$ m  w5 C3 {
! ?& T9 C+ a. z4 t; v"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.

1 X3 @: G6 d: x% V" vThe report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.
* R$ q0 k- f7 F4 R
"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.

* e- M3 \8 D2 ?# eThe 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