Astonishing Year in Real Estate

EREB, 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.

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.