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Sales still improving

Central Alberta Realtors sold 416 homes last month, their best performance in nine months.

Central Alberta Realtors sold 416 homes last month, their best performance in nine months.

“Improving consumer confidence and lower interest rates are drawing buyers to the housing market,” said Derek Austin, president of the Central Alberta Realtors Association, in a release.

Although the May sales figure was 12 per cent lower than the number for May 2008, the year-over-year gap decreased from 25 per cent in April, when 341 homes were sold.

The association added that on a seasonally adjusted basis, May sales were up 11 per cent from April. And since December, the seasonally adjusted sales figure has climbed 44 per cent.

The association said the median price of homes sold through the MLS system in Central Alberta last month was $269,900. That was five per cent less than the median price of $285,000, recorded in May 2008.

The number of new listings in May declined from the year-ago level for the fifth consecutive month, with 931 properties added to the MLS system. That’s 12 per cent fewer than in May 2009.

As of the end of last month, there were 2,710 active MLS listings, down 4.4 per cent from May 2008.