Edmonton’s slower market activity matches national trend
Edmonton, September 5, 2012: Residential property sales in August slowed both month-to-month and year-to-year, mirroring a trend that has evolved nationally all summer. Sales of all types of residential properties in August (1,430) were down 17.4% from July and down 10.7% from a year ago. The number of people offering their properties for sale also slowed but not as sharply as sales. There were 2,732 residential properties listed on the Multiple Listing Service® in August; down 2.2% from a month ago and down just 5.6% from a year ago. The available inventory was reduced 2.9% to 7,458 properties.
“Housing sales across Canada have dropped slightly since May,” said REALTORS® Association of Edmonton President Doug Singleton. “The sales activity varies from market to market and it appears, when compared to last year that Edmonton is slowing faster than the national trend after a very active spring. Never-the-less, housing prices are still up from a year ago and consumer confidence is high.”
Despite the slowdown in sales, prices were up as compared to August 2011. The average* selling price of a single family detached home (SFD) was down marginally (-0.15%) at $384,477 from last month but up 3.8% from a year ago. Condo prices were also down marginally (-0.9%) from last month at $237,042 but up from last year. The all residential average price was $334,395 (down 0.5% m/m) which is up 3.2% from August 2011.
Average prices are affected by the difference in price of similar properties as well as the market composition or mix of homes sold. Compared to a year ago, a typical bungalow in August sold for 2.2% more while a typical 2-story home sold for about 3.2% more. While the price of an individual home was rising, the market composition was also changing. In August 2012, 53% of SFDs sold were priced below $375,000 as compared to 59% in 2011. In addition, the number of sales of homes over $500,000 was up from 11% in 2011 to almost 15% this year.
“August sales illustrate the changes in the composition of the market,” said Singleton. “More consumers are purchasing homes at the higher end of the market. This is an indicator of consumer confidence and a long term view that this market is stable. ”
The average days-on-market in August was up two at 54 days. The sales-to-listing ratio was down, moving down from 62.0% in July to 52.3%.
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