Red Deer residential sales have been the best in years.
To the end of November, 1,913 residential units have been sold, up six per cent from the 1,801 sold through 11 months in 2021, according to Multiple Listing Service statistics tracked by the Central Alberta Realtors Association. That is the highest number of sales since at least 2015.
Month over month, sales are slightly behind last year, with 116 units sold last month, compared with 124 in November 2021.
However, the average days to sell a home was down to 50 last month, compared with 63 a year ago, suggesting there are still a healthy number of buyers in the market.
Central Alberta-wide, residential sales have dipped 14 per cent to 5,415 units from 6,178 through 11 months last year.
Comparing November sales, last month’s 276 sales is down 28 per cent from the 384 in November 2021.
Alberta Real Estate Association’s (AREA) Market Trend Summary has a slightly lower number of total Red Deer sales and percentage increase — 1,902 and seven per cent.
One of the big stories in local real estate is a steady decline in homes on the market, says AREA. Last month, there were 353 listings, the lowest levels for a November since 2013 and 30 per cent below the 10-year average.
“While conditions are not as tight as they were earlier in the year, with only three months of supply conditions are still considered relatively tight for this time of year,” says the summary. “Despite persistently tight conditions total residentially prices remained relatively stable compared to last year likely related to shifts in the composition of sales. When considering detached activity, year-to-date average prices have increased by nearly five percent.”
The average sales price for residential units of all kinds — detached, semi-detached, rowhouses and apartments was $332,885. The average price for detached homes was $385,705, which is 8.8 per cent from a year ago.
In Red Deer County, sales were down 10.6 per cent for the year to 1,059 from 1,185 in 2021. Likewise, sales were down a small amount in a number of the smaller communities in central Alberta.
Rocky Mountain House is a notable exception. Residential sales jumped 37 per cent 173 sales, up from 126 a year earlier. Penhold, Innisfail and Sylvan Lake saw smaller increases.
Province-wide, the 80,773 sales through November is almost identical to last year. However, there was a sharp 28 per cent drop across Alberta in monthly sales to 4,461 units from 5,326 in November 2021.
Red Deer posted some of the best residential sales numbers year over year of major Alberta communities. Calgary led with a 10 per cent increase in sales to 28,470 units, followed by Red Deer’s seven per cent increase. Edmonton and Grande Prairie were tied with a three per cent increase in sales. Fort McMurray saw sales drop three per cent and Lethbridge sales were down 11 per cent and Medicine Hat saw sales fall 12 per cent.
AREA said that a sharp increase in sale prices early in the year were followed by a correction. However, prices overall remain an average five per cent higher than last year.
“While higher lending rates have weighed on recent activity, fundamentals remain strong in Alberta. A return of both international and inter-provincial migration and job growth have supported sales activity that is far stronger than levels achieved prior to the pandemic,” says AREA.
“This should prevent the same type of correction in our province relative to other parts of the county.”