The average two-story home in Canada was valued at $379,636 in the first quarter, a 6.6% decrease compared to the same period a year earlier, Royal LePage reported in its House Price Survey.

Vancouver saw the steepest declines, where prices were down 12.6% year-over-year to $828,750. The housing market in the prairie provinces has been particularly hard-hit by the downturn, where the average price of a detached bungalow was down 11.2% year-over-year in Edmonton and 8.1% in Saskatoon.

In Toronto, prices are down 6.3% compared to a year ago.

"We expected a sharper decline in house prices across Canadian markets during the first quarter," Phil Soper, president of Royal LePage Real Estate Services Ltd. Said in a release.

He noted that markets were surprisingly resilient given the toll the economic downturn has taken on consumer confidence.

"Canadians in most regions should not expect the prices of their homes to begin appreciating again until the overall economy begins to stabilize, likely in the first half of 2010," he said.

Not all regions saw declines, however. St. John's, Newfoundland led the way in terms of price gains, where the average price climbed 15.6% to $265,000. The Royal LePage report said confidence was boosted by investments by Vale Inco NL and Hebron.

Prices rose in Montreal, where the average price of a detached bungalow was up 2% from a year ago, and in Ottawa, where prices were up 1.9%.

By Stephen Huebl, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it , edited by Ernest Hoffman, This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it

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