Calgary home prices fall 1.6% but market remains 'more buoyant' than expected: Royal LePage

Calgary house pricesdeclined slightly this summerwhile condos dropped more sharply in value, according to a report released Thursday byRoyal LePage.

The aggregateprice for a home in the cityslipped to $457,044 in the third quarter of 2016, down1.6 per cent from the same period the year before.

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Looking at different housing types, the median price of atwo-storeyhome fell 1.1 per centto $502,213.

The the median price for a bungalowdipped 1.4 per cent to $458,933.

Condos,meanwhile, fell5.5 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 12per centto $545,414.

The median price for atwo-storey home in Canada rose 13.7 per cent to $649,635, while the price of a bungalow grew11per cent to $459,481 and the median condoincreased in value by5.8 per cent to $360,679.

The nationalgains were driven largelyby a 30.6 per cent increase in Greater Vancouver aggregate house pricesand a 13.6 per cent increasein the Greater Toronto Area.

All this information comes from theRoyal LePage House Price Survey, a quarterly measure of the three mostcommon types of housing in Canada's 53 largest real estate markets.

The numbers in the report arebased on the the real estate firm's national house price composite,produced every three months through the use of the company'sdata along with additionaldata and analysis fromBrookfield RPS.