Toronto home prices up slightly over last year

    
    - Royal LePage House Price Survey Shows Toronto Prices Held Despite
    Economic Downturn -
    

TORONTO , Oct. 8 /CNW/ - The Royal LePage House Price Survey released today showed that prices for detached bungalows and standard two-storey homes in Toronto are up slightly over a year ago. Overall, Toronto prices were seemingly unaffected by the country's challenging economic environment as average home prices maintained their value.

Comparing year-over-year average Toronto prices, bungalows increased 0.8 per cent to $436,857 . Standard two-storey homes rose one per cent to $561,725 , while condominiums dipped 3 per cent to $300,526 .

"The resale and first-time buyer market for bungalows and two-storey homes in Toronto is strong," said Gino Romanese, Senior Vice President, Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. "There is no doubt that third quarter activity was bolstered by both pent up demand and supply".

Romanese noted that, in hindsight, one could argue that the downturn we experienced late last year and early this year, was not a correction but more of a pause, where both buyers and sellers were unwilling to make decisions given the prevailing global ecomonic uncertainties.

Overall Canada's housing market is on the road to recovery, but despite the strength of the market in the third quarter, giving the appearance of a surge in real estate activity, Royal LePage cautioned that sales are actually lagging approximately one month behind the typical seasonal pattern.

"The economic recession interrupted the flow of the real estate cycle but it is essentially back on track," said Phil Soper , president and chief executive officer, Royal LePage Real Estate Services. "There is the illusion of a boom in the market, but in fact what we are experiencing is the end of a normal, short-term correction. Once housing supply returns to normal levels, we believe the economy will support modest pricing growth into 2010."

About the Royal LePage House Price Survey

The Royal LePage House Price Survey is the largest, most comprehensive study of its kind in Canada , with information on seven types of housing in over 250 neighbourhoods from coast to coast. This release references an abbreviated version of the survey, which highlights house price trends for the three most common types of housing in Canada in 80 communities across the country. A complete database of past and present surveys is available on the Royal LePage Web site at www.royallepage.ca. Current figures will be updated following the complete tabulation of the data for the third quarter. A printable version of the third quarter 2009 survey will be available online on November 6th, 2009 .

Housing values in the Royal LePage Survey are Royal LePage opinions of fair market value in each location, based on local data and market knowledge provided by Royal LePage residential real estate experts. Historical data is available for some areas back to the early 1970s.

About Royal LePage

Royal LePage is Canada's leading provider of franchise services to residential real estate brokerages, with a network of nearly 14,000 real estate professionals in over 600 locations across Canada . Royal LePage believes in the importance of giving back to the community and is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation. The Shelter Foundation is dedicated exclusively to funding women's shelters and violence prevention and education programs. Royal LePage is managed by Brookfield Real Estate Services, and is part of a brand family that includes Royal LePage, Johnston and Daniel, and La Capitale Real Estate Network. An affiliated company, Brookfield Real Estate Services Fund, is a TSX listed income trust, trading under the symbol "BRE.UN."

For more information visit www.royallepage.ca.

For further information: Sarah Louise Gardiner, Fleishman-Hillard Canada, [phone]; Tammy Gilmer, Director, Public Relations and National Communications, Royal LePage Real Estate Services, [phone]