Central Alberta’s residential real estate market remains sluggish, with the number of sales processed through the Multiple Listing Service last month a third lower than in August 2009.
Statistics provided by the Central Alberta Realtors Association indicate there were 94 residential sales in Red Deer and 154 in the surrounding area last month, for a total of 248.
A year ago, the tally was 371, with 163 in the city and 208 in the rural region.
So far this year, there have been 2,194 MLS sales in the Red Deer region: 980 in the city and 1,214 elsewhere.
That’s a 16 per cent drop from the first eight months of 2009, when there were 1,198 sales in Red Deer and 1,411 outside, for a total of 2,609.
Despite the year-over-year decline in August sales, the average home price in the city last month was $316,845, as compared with $289,122 a year earlier.
Elsewhere in Central Alberta, the August average slipped to $231,530 from $246,245.
These average prices included homes of all types.
Residential listings processed through the Central Alberta Realtors Association last month totalled 712, with 294 in Red Deer and 418 in the surrounding rural area.
That represents a seven per cent increase over August 2009, when there were 250 new listings in the city and 415 outside.