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.
( [& v; O0 X0 `$ k; Z7 c3 i
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.

, d  v  G2 h( u2 nTwo-storey houses dropped 13.8 per cent year-over-year to $342,857 in the Edmonton market.
8 b$ \6 a  N' B. U/ Q" F  V1 G' k

Email to a friend

Printer friendly
Font:****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.
4 K' t; O' K5 o& G
Standard two-storeys increased by 0.1 per cent to $408,927 while the average price of detached bungalows remained stable at $240,000.
! N: R# a1 V; ~, Y
4 e0 [% p: b0 J' e: K& u1 `Phil Soper, Royal LePage president and CEO, said Canada's housing market is fundamentally different and stronger economically than the U.S. market being shaken by the sub-prime mortgage crisis.
, _/ {3 f$ Q* p
4 K, N4 x# X0 R4 w( W  f1 P"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.
: M1 E/ n# G' e+ C- I" |# E' e/ H4 V
* s, i1 K7 |. U. H1 r* I2 T$ o3 UThe report said despite dropping year-over-year prices in Alberta, the resource-rich economy is strong and unemployment is low.
! @2 S. |9 B$ m# q; }8 d/ }
"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.
0 U% C* ?3 E. W4 Q$ A; ~
, C) u3 z! [: [2 |. ^# U# ]8 `bmah@thejournal.canwest.com