Local home sales were up in January, according to Multiple Listing Service statistics released on Thursday by the Central Alberta Realtors Association.
The association reported that there were 213 residential sales in Red Deer and the surrounding region last month, as compared with 197 in December and 206 in January 2011.
In the city of Red Deer the tally was 86 — up from 83 in December but five fewer than in January 2011. The count in the surrounding region was 127, as compared with 114 in December and 115 last January.
The average selling price in Red Deer last month was $301,272, an improvement from $285,786 a year earlier. Outside the city, the average price was $257,221, up from $208,876.
Because average prices include homes of all types, they can fluctuate from month to month as a result of more higher- or lower-value properties being sold during that period.
The Central Alberta Realtors Association processed 612 residential listings in January, with 245 of these in Red Deer and 367 outside. That’s up sharply from December, when there were 342 new listings — 100 in Red Deer and 242 in the surrounding region; and an increase from January 2011, when there were 224 new Red Deer listings and 353 outside the city, for a total of 577.