Edmonton, January 4, 2007: The Edmonton Real Estate Board
released year end numbers today for what has been an astonishing
year. The number of sales through the Multiple Listing Service® broke
all previous records even as prices for all residential property
soared.
“Edmonton caught up with other major markets in the
country this year,” said Madeline Sarafinchan, EREB President. “No
one anticipated the dramatic rise in prices although Edmonton
real estate has been undervalued for the last few years.” Higher
than anticipated sales were driven by a heated Alberta economy
and housing demands from residents and newcomers to Edmonton.
The average price* for a single family home in December was
$341,933; up 2.36% from last month and the all-residential
average price rose four percent to $294,155. Condo prices continued
to climb from last month in response to the demand for entry-level
housing. Condo prices rose 6.98% in December to $227,428. Duplex
and row house average prices were up almost four percent at
$295,178.
Average housing prices as compared to December 2005 were markedly
up. An average priced single family home sold for $225,130
last December but had risen 51.9% in price by year end. Condo
prices advanced 52.4% over the year from $149,254 to $227,428.
All residential property combined was up 48.65% when comparing
December figures. When averaged over all twelve months, the
average residential selling price went up 29.38% from $193,934
to $250,915.
Rising prices did not slow down residential sales. MLS® sales
were up 19% in 2006 over the previous year. 25,393 residential
properties were listed and 21,984 were sold resulting in a
sales-to-listing ratio of 87%. The total MLS® (including
rural, recreational, industrial and commercial properties)
had 25,316 properties sold and valued at over $6.6 billion.
“This time last year I predicted that inventory would
be a concern,” said Sarafinchan. “Inventory has
declined through the year and we enter the new year with just
2,012 residential properties available. That is 882 less than
last year at this time.” Fifty more properties were sold
last month than were listed resulting in a December sales-to-listing
ratio of 105%. One month sales have exceeded listings just
twice in recent years. The previous occurrence was in May 2006.
In December the average days on market was up slightly to
30 days. There are 3,104 members of the Edmonton Real Estate
Board available to help buyers and sellers with their real
estate transactions.
Out in the country, rural sales were strong in 2006 with total
rural, recreational and acreage sales of $768 million. The
strong economy provided opportunities for some homeowners to
invest in recreational properties. At the same time more buyers
sought rural properties to avoid the intense competition and
rising prices in the urban areas.
Commercial sales through the Multiple Listing Service® also
set records in 2006. Total sales of $318 million eclipsed the
previous year end total sales record of $277 million set in
2003.
Highlights of MLS® activity
| December 2006 activity |
Record for the month* |
% change from December
2005 |
| Total MLS® sales this month |
1,204* |
17.60% |
| Value of total MLS® sales -
month |
$389 million* |
80.80% |
| Value of total MLS® sales -
year |
$6.60 billion* |
55.50% |
| Residential¹ sales this month |
1,074* |
18.30% |
| Residential average price |
$294,155* |
48.70% |
| SFD² average selling price
- month |
$341,933* |
51.90% |
| SFD² median³ selling price |
$329,000* |
53.10% |
| Condo average selling price |
$227,428* |
52.40% |
¹. Residential includes SFD, condos and duplex/row houses.
². Single Family Dwelling
³. The middle figure in a list of all sales prices
