Home resale activity in Central Alberta was relatively brisk last month, based on stats provided by the Central Alberta Realtors Association.
Multiple Listing Service figures for April indicate that there were 213 sales in Red Deer, up 22 per cent from the 175 deals posted a year ago. And compared with the 160 MLS sales in March, month-to-month resale activity jumped 33 per cent.
Residential property in the area outside Red Deer also changed hands at a rapid pace, with the 296 rural sales in April a 17 per cent jump from the 254 a year earlier.
The figure was also up 20 per cent from March, when 247 homes sold.
The average sales price in Red Deer last month was $349,201, up from $309,569 in April 2013 and $325,889 in March 2014.
Outside Red Deer, the average price was $283,996, as compared with $255,911 a year earlier and $280,157 in March of this year.
The Central Alberta Realtors Association has cautioned that average prices are not a good indicator of market trends, because the types and locations of properties sold vary from period to period.
As of the end of April, 602 homes had been sold in Red Deer this year, up 11 per cent from 582 for the same four-month period in 2013.
Outside the city, the year-to-date tally was 829, up 18 per cent from 702 last year.
There were 307 residential listings in Red Deer processed through the MLS system last month, as compared with 264 in April 2013 and 273 in March 2014.
Outside the city, new listings last month totalled 576 — an increase from 557 a year ago and from 507 this March.