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* }: m1 r5 c2 f9 y0 k
) @9 Y: J. B. p! \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.

$ R0 x* \- p. o& E9 a. ], }. MTwo-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.

- O7 i/ d- U$ Q% M# o
8 X, N# z+ C9 F% JEmail to a friend

! Y. }% u7 I9 G1 F, @; i  g6 ]Printer friendly
) p8 A" J2 M! K8 ~& S0 KFont:****A standard condominium tumbled 18.8 per cent from last year to $216,667.

* v5 L7 V9 G% S4 ^/ @9 W- vAcross 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 $240,000.
* [4 i2 X/ W" i5 X9 c1 |1 R7 h
: |# A  a% c' V' rPhil Soper, Royal LePage president and CEO, said Canada's housing market is fundamentally different and stronger economically than the U.S. market being shaken by the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
: D1 Q1 W8 s3 Z8 ~/ H
8 f3 Z/ T, i9 \2 R' @, Q* N, z"Average house price appreciation curves are beginning to flatten, but this is a completely natural reaction to the explosive gains that characterized the market earlier this decade," Soper said in a release.
  M* T; _: _3 `1 h1 d. w
8 \/ y, O- _: t* j  U4 I; `! A" iThe report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.
+ f; b, m+ i) M; i
"As such, the recent price decline is merely a correction to the dramatic run-up in prices that both Edmonton and Calgary experienced in the past few years," the report said.
) r$ S, l$ |3 @/ q1 Q
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