Edmonton, March 2, 2012: The REALTORS® Association of Edmonton reports that housing prices were up in all housing categories in February in the Edmonton area. The all-residential average1 price, at $329,911, was up 3.7% from January and up 5.7% when compared to the same month last year.

“Average prices in February were higher than the year-long average price for last year,” said REALTORS® Association of Edmonton President Doug Singleton. “Buyers seem to have confidence and REALTOR® offices are reporting solid traffic. This is lifting prices up and they are already higher than at the same time in the past two years.”

In February, the average price of a single family detached (SFD) home was $375,268, up 3.1% from the previous month. The average price of a condominium in February was $234,973, up 8.5% from the January price. This is higher than all months except May of last year. Duplex and rowhouse properties sold on average for $306,491; a 1.4% improvement from the previous month.

Year-over-year prices were also up in all categories. Single family properties were up 4.8%; condos were up 1.7% and duplex/rowhouses were up 0.2% from the same month last year.

Sales and listings by REALTORS® on the Multiple Listing Service® System in February were both up from January and the sales-to-listing ratio recovered from 36% in January to 46% in February. This indicates that less than half of the residential properties listed were sold and provides fresh property options for buyers who may have been looking for several months. Sellers should be pleased to see that the average days-on-market in February was 54; down from 65 in January.

There were 5,976 residential properties in the local MLS® System at the end of January. Although the inventory was up from last month, it is lower than a year ago when there were 6,389 properties available for sale on the MLS® System.

“Nationally the housing still appears to be soft,” said Singleton. “But the local market is much more robust. Consult your local REALTOR® for the most comprehensive local market information. REALTORS® are here when life happens.”

1 Residential includes SFD, condos and duplex/row houses.
2 Single Family Dwelling
3 The middle figure in a list of all sales prices
4 Includes residential, rural and commercial sales

* Average prices indicate market trends only. They do not reflect actual changes for a particular property, which may vary from house to house and area to area. Prior period figures have been adjusted to include late reported sales and cancellations and therefore reflect a more accurate view of the period than previously reported at month end.