The price of a home can vary widely depending on its condition and the condition of the land on which it is located.
But the cost of real estate can vary even more, according to a new report by the real estate research firm IHS Markit.
The study shows that the average home price in Canada fell 4.2 per cent to $917,700 in March, from $1,009,400 in March 2016.
In the U.S., the average price of an average home fell 3.7 per cent in March to $2,547,100.
Prices fell even more for condos.
The median price of condos in Vancouver dropped 2.2 percent to $1.8 million in March.
«The average price for a detached house was down 4.3 per cent, while condos fell 2.6 per cent,» said Ian Macdonald, senior vice-president of IHS’ Real Estate Analytics, in a statement.
«That’s a very big change for a city that’s seen record condo sales in the past few years.»
Real estate experts said the report may have a lot to do with rising costs for home renovations.
«We don’t know exactly what’s behind this, but it does seem that people are looking to the condo market to buy and a lot of those condos are on a lot more expensive land than the houses,» said Robert Ransom, president of realtor firm Ransom Realty Group.
«It’s not just the price of the house, but the amount of work and the cost that you need to put in the house to maintain it.»
While the report shows a decline in the average value of a house, it also shows the average market value of houses increased.
The average price fell 5.6 percent in March from March 2016, while the average selling price rose 5.8 percent.
In a statement, IHS said the average condo market in Canada is now worth $1 million.
But that’s up from $920,000 in 2016.
The most recent price for single-family homes in the Greater Toronto Area was $1M in March and the average is $1m, ICS said.
The Canadian market is growing.
In April, IOS economist Ian Morrison reported that the median price for Canadian detached houses is up 14.6 percentage points in the last 12 months to $719,400.
That’s more than double the average of the last decade, IFS said.
In 2016, the median home price across Canada was $2.3 million.