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Winnipeg Free Press - ONLINE EDITION

City house prices buck national trend

By: Murray McNeill

Posted: 01/26/2009 10:56 AM | Comments: 0 (including replies)

House prices continued to climb in most areas of Winnipeg during the final three months of 2008, although weakening consumer confidence kept the increases to single digits in most cases, according to a new survey by Royal LePage Real Estate Services.

The realty firm said the biggest increase was in the average selling price of a standard two-storey home. It climbed by four per cent to $251,871.

Standard condominiums were next, with the average price increasing by 3.7 per cent to $138,440. The smallest gain was for a standard detached-bungalow, where the average price climbed by a modest 2.4 per cent to $219,650.

The survey found that while prices were up in all three categories for the city as a whole, there were some cases where particular neighbourhoods saw a decline in selling prices for a certain type of homes. But the declines were limited to three neighbourhoods — River Heights, Southdale and South St. Vital — and were for only one type of house, rather than across the board.

A local Royal Lepage spokesman blamed the smaller increases — prices had been escalating at a double-digit pace for much of the previous five years — on the global economic downturn, which undermined consumer confidence at the start of the quarter.

"However, consumers quickly began to shake off this uneasiness as they saw that Winnipeg is rooted in solid economic footing," said John Froese, a broker with Royal LePage Prime Real Estate.

"Almost immediately after the realization that Winnipeg’s housing market was poised for strength and stability, investors and first-time buyers started to take advantage of the softer prices," Froese said. "Winnipeg’s real estate market activity picked up in December."

Nationally, house prices in Canada fell in all three major categories during the fourth quarter. The biggest decline was in the average selling price for a standard two-storey. It fell by 6.3 per cent.

That was followed by condominiums — down 5.2 per cent — and bungalows — down 4.8 per cent, the company said.

murray.mcneill@freepress.mb.ca

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