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.

( L" [/ S3 n$ Q( p8 cThe 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.


Email to a friend
( X. ?/ |' `9 V6 T
Printer friendly
* a* z+ y% `. f) {) W5 w7 e3 ?' t3 fFont:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.
( d* w4 Q- P: H, L3 W. O& r0 y
% m9 G0 T4 t; f7 s0 `  y( e1 T- m5 BAcross 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.
5 x. q( W0 Q/ H9 a, z0 g/ f; r
' R+ w' H6 f" k% {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.
: u7 J8 A) P% S
"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.
. Y& n: X! g) i
8 b5 J8 G5 f+ D5 c8 C; DThe report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.
% V) _% _' T9 `6 }) X, N: h8 a
"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.

bmah@thejournal.canwest.com