TORONTO - Housing prices rose in the first quarter of this year in all major Canadian markets except Edmonton, Royal Lepage Housing services said in its housing price survey released Thursday.
 
Prices for detached bungalows increased the most in the first three months of the year, rising by 8.3 per cent from a year earlier to $336,834, according to the report.

Two-storey homes rose by 7.1 per cent to $400,647 and standard condominium units jumped by 6.9 per cent to $240,423.

 

Canadas 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, stated Phil Soper, president and chief executive of Royal LePage Real Estate Services, a unit of the Brookfield Real Estate Services Fund (TSX:BRE.UN).

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 all the various forms of housing covered by the study.

The sale prices for standard condo units tumbled 7.7 per cent to $235,000, while the cost of an average bungalow fell 4.9 per cent to $330,000 and a two-storey by 3.7 per cent to $363,707.

Despite a strong economy, consumer confidence (in Alberta) 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, said the survey.

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.

Fredericton was the only other city to see a decline, as condo unit prices slipped 3.8 per cent to an average of $126,000.

In Calgary, home prices rose at a more moderate pace as the city's highest-ever inventory levels turned the market in favour of buyers.

Smaller cities with fairly affordable housing and strong, resource-based economies made the biggest price gains in the first three months of the year, said the report.

The largest year-over-year price increases were in Regina and Saskatoon for all three types of housing 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 were near the national average, with bungalows up 11.3 per cent to $432,679, two-storey homes up eight per cent to $544,150 and condos up by 6.9 per cent to $298,662.
Vancouver remained the priciest city in the country to own a home, with bungalows up 12.5 per cent from last year at an average of $852,750.
 
Two-storey homes were going for an average price of $948,750, up 13.3 per cent, while standard condos averaged $455,750, up 12.9 per cent.