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.

5 M& U/ q) w( G+ }2 o$ W0 EThe 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 $342,857 in the Edmonton market.
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* N4 v, c0 Q& f  N. U$ MFont:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.

, x! {6 y" Z. c* Q% q+ }4 GAcross Canada, the survey found, on average, standard condos rose by 0.2 per cent to $243,529.
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) ~; ^: m0 T' e6 BStandard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.

" {& t% G6 ]" O4 C4 m8 Y1 b/ uPhil 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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7 O% ~. n" P2 [( c  ["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.

The report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.

"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.
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bmah@thejournal.canwest.com