The record for most expensive home in Red Deer has passed from one Anders on the Lake property to another.
The house at 38 Allard Cr. recently sold for $1,899,000, topping the $1,599,000 that was paid for a neighbouring home at 34 Allard Cr. just over six years ago.
The new record-holder boasts 7,147 square feet of space, including a library, theatre room, exercise room and wet bar. It has six bedrooms and eight bathrooms, an 1,800-bottle wine cellar, a pair of decks overlooking Anders Lake and a waterfall.
“It’s gorgeous,” said Bryce Kander, whose mother Penny Kander owned the house.
Both Kanders are Realtors with Realty Executives Red Deer, and acted together as the listing and selling agents.
Bryce Kander said the home was on the market for a month and a half before selling at its list price.
“The first nine days we had nine qualified buyers come to this property,” he said, adding that the eventual buyers are from Red Deer but do not want to be identified.
“We did get one other offer.”
Judy Ferguson, executive officer with the Central Alberta Realtors Association, confirmed that $1,899,000 is the highest price paid for a single-family detached home in Red Deer since 1980, which is as far back as the association’s current record system goes.
Prior to the sale of 34 Allard Cr. in 2008, the highest Multiple Listing Service price for a home in Red Deer was $1.02 million.
Kander thinks demand for estate homes is on the rise, thanks to the strong local economy. He pointed out that another Allard Crescent property sold for $1.44 million earlier this year, and that he’s working on a couple listings just outside Red Deer with asking prices of $1.2 million and $1.29 million.
“The fact the million-dollar properties are moving is just a great sign,” he said.
“Normally, they sit there for like a year.”
Dawn Parent, president of the Central Alberta Realtors Association, said that nine Red Deer homes have sold for more than $800,000 since June 2013.
“Three of them were over a million.”
The year before that, a dozen MLS sales topped the $800,000 mark, with four of these over $1 million.
“It does show to me that there’s more confidence in the economy that people are putting that kind of money into homes,” said Parent, who is a Realtor with Re/Max Real Estate Central Alberta in Lacombe.
“It is coming back, and we are seeing that in the money spent on high-end acreages as well.”
Kander said many of the homes around Anders Lake are worth around $1 million.
One of the things that distinguishes 38 Allard Cr. is its size — which he understands is the second largest in the city when it comes to above-grade space.
The home at 34 Allard Cr. was 5,516 square feet.
Last year, municipal property taxes for 38 Allard Cr. were $11,200
hrichards@www.reddeeradvocate.com