Alberta home sales set new September record

Residential sales activity reported through the MLS® Systems of real estate boards in Alberta numbered 5,694 units in September 2013, up 21 per cent from a year earlier. This was the best September sales figure ever reported. At the national level sales were up 18 per cent from September 2012.

On a year-to-date basis, provincial home sales totalled 52,794 units over the first three quarters of 2013. This was running nine per cent ahead of the same time last year, and marks the best performance over this period since 2007.
The provincial average price of homes sold in September 2013 was $381,308, an increase of seven per cent from September 2012. The national average price, by comparison, rose nine per cent on a year-over-year basis to $385,906.

Monthly residential average prices were up from year-ago levels in Medicine Hat (+21 per cent), Lloydminster (+12 per cent), Calgary (+8 per cent), Edmonton (+8 per cent), Alberta West (+8 per cent), Grande Prairie (+6 per cent), Fort McMurray (+2 per cent), Lethbridge (+0.7 per cent), and Central Alberta (+0.7 per cent). The average price declined 12 per cent in South Central Alberta.

New listings on the MLS® Systems of real estate boards in Alberta numbered 8,380 units in September. This was up two per cent from year-ago levels.

Overall supply levels remain at lower levels compared to recent history. Active residential listings numbered 22,176 units at the end of September, down 13 per cent from September 2012.

There were 3.9 months of inventory at the end of September 2013, down from 5.4 months at the same time one year ago and below the long-run average for this time of year. The number of months of inventory is the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity.

The value of all home sales in the province totalled $2.2 billion in September 2013, up 30 per cent from September 2012. The dollar volume of all home sales in Canada was up 29 per cent on a year-over-year basis.

Sales of all property types in Alberta numbered 6,197 units in September, up 22 per cent from September 2012. The value of those sales amounted to $2.4 billion, rising 24 per cent from a year earlier.

A total of 2,475 home sales were recorded through the MLS® System of the Calgary Real Estate Board in September, rising 21 per cent from a year earlier. The combined value of home sales activity in Calgary was $1.1 billion, a 30 per cent increase from year-ago levels.

There were 1,712 home sales recorded through the MLS® System of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton, up 25 per cent from September 2012. The total value of home sales in Edmonton was $599.1 million in September 2013, up 35 per cent on a year-over-year basis.

Source: CREA