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 $326,429 compared to the third-quarter of 2007, says the market survey.
1 O5 T2 s# [/ \9 T% L0 p
, s& c/ s$ R& g: @# D8 XTwo-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.
8 _+ Q; B5 a" u, T: g

Email to a friend

4 w: W- `8 j+ l% n# f6 J3 cPrinter friendly
7 Z9 h0 V% e4 t; r! T7 CFont:****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.
( t1 y' b4 }6 i7 ?+ t6 {' A' |
Standard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.

+ W" I6 Q! a7 J/ x: wPhil 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.
7 `$ P1 P! L# ^! |" S! V$ Q7 i
The report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.

( m1 ?4 Q$ ~6 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.

! ~" p. [4 V5 Z& vThe 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.
! Q6 Z9 a, i" x$ h3 L  R% f
: w6 Q  c& U8 {1 D& s$ Obmah@thejournal.canwest.com