Edmonton, January 4, 2006: After a record setting year in 2004, the Edmonton Real Estate Board anticipated a status quo performance in 2005. Instead the record book got rewritten again. Total Multiple Listing Services® sales in 2005 were $4.245 billion, up 14.5% from the previous year. Unit sales for all property types were up from 20,110 to 21,276.
“Increased in-migration, a strong economy and low interest rates have combined to contribute to the strength of this market this year,” said Jim Kulak, 2005 EREB President. “Our success also comes from the hard work of our 2,788 members who sold 18,634 homes this year.” Total year-to-date listings were 25,820 homes for a sales to listing ratio of 72%.
12,504 single family homes were sold through the MLS® in 2005, up 3.9% from 2004. Average price* on December sales was $225,130. Total condominium sales for the year were 5,020 units with the December sales price of $149,254. Duplex and row house sales through the end of December were 681 with the average December price being $198,895. Compared to November 2005, prices were down slightly (0.43%) for single family homes, up 2% for condos and up 12.6% for duplexes and rowhouses.
The average price for a residential property in the Edmonton market in 2005 was still under $200,000 at $193,934. There were 2,894 homes in the MLS® inventory as of December 31. The average days-on-market in December was 42 days – up three from last month but down seven days from December 2004.
In a tale of two cities, there are obvious differences in the market activity in Edmonton and Calgary in 2005. Some examples:
Seven homes in Edmonton and one in St. Albert sold through MLS® for over $1 million. There were 144 homes in that price range sold in Calgary.
The highest priced home in Edmonton was in Crestwood and sold in May for $2.1 million. The highest residential sale in Calgary was a 39 acre lot with 2,000 square foot home which sold in April for $4.5 million.
There were 158 homes in Edmonton that sold for over $500,000 compared to 1,199 sold in Calgary in 2005. At the other end of the price scale there were 1,063 homes sold for less that $100,000 in Edmonton and just 308 in Calgary.
The biggest home sold in Edmonton this year was a 7,983 square foot home in Quesnell Heights which sold for $1.6 million. In Calgary, a more compact 7,342 square foot home on Elbow Drive sold for $1.8 million.
If you have not yet moved up to your million dollar dream home there are currently 54 homes listed for over $1 million in Calgary and 10 in Edmonton.
