LORI McLEOD
Other
Toronto — Home prices continued to rise in Canada in the first quarter of 2008 in every major market except Edmonton, according to a Housing Price Survey report released Thursday by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.
Detached bungalow prices showed the largest gain across Canada in the first three months of the year, rising by 8.3 per cent from the year before to $336,836. Two-storey homes rose by 7.1 per cent to $400,647, and standard condo units by 6.9 per cent to $240,423.
“Canada‘s housing market remains on solid footing. With the notable exception of a handful of small western cities, the country has returned to an environment characterized by moderate house price increases,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage. “These conditions are far more agreeable to those searching for a home, and are more sustainable in the long term than the sharp price increases recently experienced.”
In Edmonton prices dropped for each type of housing measured in the study, with the sale price of a standard condo unit falling by 7.7 per cent to $235,000. The average bungalow fell by 4.9 per cent to $330,000, and the price of a two-storey by 3.7 per cent to $363,707.
“Despite a strong economy, consumer confidence began to waver as global oil prices continue to fluctuate; area buyers have grown weary of a housing market that is closely tied to the oil and gas sector,” the report said. “Employment levels in the area remain at all-time highs, which, when combined with low lending rates, positioned housing conditions slightly in the favour of area buyers.”
The only other city to see a decline was Fredericton, where the condo market saw prices fall by 3.8 per cent to an average of $126,000.
While home prices continued to rise at a more moderate pace in Calgary, a glut of listings made that city a buyers’ market in the first three months of the year, the report said.
Smaller cities with fairly affordable housing and strong, resource-based economies made the biggest price gains in the first three months of the year. The largest increases year-over-year price increases were in Saskatoon and Regina for all three housing types measured in the report. In Saskatoon the price of a bungalow rose by 50.3 per cent to $340,000, a two-storey rose by 53.4 per cent to $395,000, and a standard condo unit by 41.9 per cent to $220,000.
In Toronto price gains came in near the national average, with bungalows appreciating the most year-over-year to $432,679, an 11.3 per cent increase. Two-storey home prices rose by 8 per cent to $544,150, and condos by 6.9 per cent to $298, 662. While demand is still strong and inventory limited, bad weather in Toronto caused many sellers to hold off on open houses in the first quarter, the report said.
Vancouver remained the priciest city in the country by far in which to own a home. The price of a bungalow was nearly double that of the next most-expensive city in Canada, coming in at an average of $852,750, up 12.5 per cent from last year. Two-storey homes in Vancouver averaged $948,750, up 13.3 per cent, and standard condos averaged $455,750, up 12.9 per cent.
© The Globe and Mail
