Average sales for single-family homes in St. Albert dropped by almost 14 per cent in November compared to the same month last year, the Realtors Association of Edmonton reported in its monthly housing bulletin.
St. Albertans sold 44 single-detached homes last month, compared to 51 last November and 48 in November of 2011. The average selling price for singles was $416,250. In 2012, the price was $435,611. The median price for single family homes in November of this year was $371,000.
Condominium sales remained steady in November 2013 compared to a year earlier.
Fifteen condo sales took place last month, compared to 14 in November 2012. The average selling price was $249,693 with a median price of $235,000. The average sales price for St. Albert condominiums in November 2012 was $234,321.
Busy housing market in St. Albert
Local realtors continued to be busy in the past few weeks, said Shirley Williams, owner of St. Albert Royal LePage.
Alberta's strong economy brings more buyers to the market, she said, but it's unusual to see that many of them now.
"We had some high-end million dollar sales. We had at least two deals over a million and we had some multiple offers as well, happening," she said. "It's rather unusual this time of the year. Most people have bought by this time."
Williams said most buyers don't enter the market this late in the year unless they have to relocate or their family situation changes. She expects that some homes were bought to save money on taxes in the coming year, while other homes sold because their price was lower now.
"In some of the low-end price range it might be some investors that are just trying to dump some money by the end of the year, have some cash that they are trying to get rid of for tax purposes," she said.
Low housing stock in Edmonton
The number of available homes in the Edmonton market was the lowest it has been in five years, the association reported.
Based on the association's multiple listing system, only 4,047 homes were available in the Edmonton market at the end of November.
"The Edmonton market continues to perform well with sales up and prices rising," said association president Darrell Cook in a news release.
"While home sellers welcome the active market, buyers, with good employment prospects and higher than Canadian average salaries, are not deterred as they enter the fairly stable marketplace."
The number of all-residential sales in the Edmonton region in November was 1,116 which was the highest number of sales in the month since 2009.
There were 672 sales of single-family homes, 349 condo sales and 83 duplex and row house sales that month. Compared to November 2012, single-family home sales were up 7.9 per cent and condo sales were up 13.7 per cent.
The average days-on-market in the Edmonton region were 57, up four days from last year.
