Calgary home prices fall 1.6% but market remains 'more buoyant' than expected: Royal LePage
Nationally, meanwhile, prices soar 12% in Q3 of 2016, led by huge increases in Vancouver and Toronto
Calgary house prices declined slightly this summer while condos dropped more sharply in value, according to a report released Thursday by Royal LePage.
The aggregate price for a home in the city slipped to $457,044 in the third quarter of 2016, down 1.6 per cent from the same period the year before.
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Looking at different housing types, the median price of a two-storey home fell 1.1 per cent to $502,213.
The the median price for a bungalow dipped 1.4 per cent to $458,933.
Condos, meanwhile, fell 5.5 per cent to $287,986.
"A majority of our sales are still occurring in the detached single-family market and keeping that segment of the market more buoyant than many had expected," Royal LePage Benchmark broker/owner Corinne Lyall said in a release.
First-time homebuyers continue to drive a significant amount of the demand, Lyall added.
"Low interest rates and increasing confidence in the energy sector are creating more options that extend beyond condos," she said.
"The city is doing a great job of creating mixed-use communities with better access to amenities and transportation. These conveniences really speak to our millennial buyers looking to raise families in Calgary."
Home prices soar elsewhere in Canada
The real estate picture was quite different nationally, with the aggregate house price rising by 12 per cent to $545,414.
The median price for a two-storey home in Canada rose 13.7 per cent to $649,635, while the price of a bungalow grew 11 per cent to $459,481 and the median condo increased in value by 5.8 per cent to $360,679.
The national gains were driven largely by a 30.6 per cent increase in Greater Vancouver aggregate house prices and a 13.6 per cent increase in the Greater Toronto Area.
All this information comes from the Royal LePage House Price Survey, a quarterly measure of the three most common types of housing in Canada's 53 largest real estate markets.
The numbers in the report are based on the the real estate firm's national house price composite, produced every three months through the use of the company's data along with additional data and analysis from Brookfield RPS.