“Stubborn” homeowners who aren’t willing to sell their properties may be a reason why Alberta and British Columbia’s housing prices aren’t dropping more substantially, according to a new report by Royal LePage.

Phil Soper, president and CEO of the real estate firm, says that while some of the country’s largest housing markets showed signs of a sustained recovery in the second quarter, sales volumes and prices have slumped in Western Canada.

“Only in the West do we see a significant number of homebuyers remaining on the sidelines, depressing sales volumes and causing prices to sag,” Soper said in a release Wednesday.

“Buoyed by supportive economic conditions, many stubborn homeowners in B.C. and Alberta remain unwilling to let their precious real estate go for less than what they perceive as fair value, which has gone a long way to protecting existing home values.”

In its latest house price survey, Royal LePage added that while the price of a home in Canada is expected to rise 0.4 per cent by year-end – compared with the end of 2018 – prices in a number of Western cities will remain weak. The aggregate price for a home in Greater Vancouver is forecast to decline by 5.5 per cent, while home prices in Calgary, Edmonton and Regina are expected to fall 3.6 per cent, 3 per cent and 4.9 per cent, respectively, Royal LePage said.

Meanwhile, the survey showed that the overall median price of a Canadian home rose 1.1 per cent year-over-year to $621,696 in the second quarter, driven mostly by gains in Ontario cities.

Royal LePage’s survey is based on data from 63 of the country’s largest real estate markets.