Edmonton, May 4, 2010: April is the start of the busy second quarter for real estate, and resale housing sales were down over the same month last year according to a report issued by the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. Average* prices of single family houses moved down compared to a month ago but were up by 8.2% from last year. Condominium average prices moved up from last month and were up 7.0% from April 2009.

“There were three increases to interest rates and changes to mortgage qualifying conditions in April; none of which seemed to slow down the Edmonton housing market,” said Larry Westergard, president of the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton. “Despite the upward movement, mortgage rates are still close to the 10-year average and not out of reach of most homebuyers. In many cases it is a matter of the REALTOR® lowering expectations rather than crushing hopes and dreams.”

Single family residences in the Edmonton area sold on average for $385,359 in April and condominium prices rose to $253,788. Duplex and rowhouse prices of $322,127 were up from last month and the average residential price remained stable at $374,085.

There were 3,884 residential listings in April with residential sales of 1,740 properties resulting in a sales-to-listing ratio of 45%. Days-on-market rang-in at 40 days and inventory at month end was 8,056 residential units.

“It is pretty clear that the costs of home ownership will increase as our economy improves relative to the US and other world economies,” said Westergard. “Only a REALTOR® has access to the latest and most detailed market figures and their experience and objective viewpoint will help the buyer and seller come to realistic expectations in their home search or sale.”

At the end of the annual membership renewal period there were 3,133 REALTORS® on the Association rolls as compared to 3,027 at the same time in 2009.

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Highlights of MLS® activity

April 2010 activity Record for the month* % change from April 2009
Total MLS® System sales this month 1956 3.2%
Value of total MLS® System sales - month $674 million 4.9%
Value of total MLS® System sales - year $1.39 billion 24.0%
Residential¹ sales this month 1740 -5.9%
Residential average price $339,314 -1.3%
SFD² average selling price - month $385,359 8.2%
SFD median³ selling price $370,000 9.1%
Condo average selling price $253,788 7.0%

¹. Residential includes SFD, condos and duplex/row houses.
². Single Family Dwelling
³. The middle figure in a list of all sales prices

* Average prices indicate market trends only. They do not reflect actual prices, which vary from house to house and area to area. For information on a specific area, contact Kerri-lyn Holland at 780-439-7000.