Market Report: December 2017

The national average price, by comparison, rose 5.7% on a year-over-year basis to $496,532 in December 2017. 

Sales of all property types in Alberta numbered 3,299 units in December, up 15.5% from December 2016. The value of those sales amounted to $1.3 billion, an increase of 11.3% from a year earlier. 

A total of 1,300 home sales were recorded through the MLS® System of the Calgary Real Estate Board in December, up 11.3% from a year earlier. The combined value of home sales activity in Calgary was $571.2 million, 1.8% above last year's levels. There were 1,122 homes sales recorded through the MLS® system if the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton, up 37.3% from December 2016. The total value of home sales in Edmonton was $402.7 million in December 2017, up 40.2% on a year-over-year basis. 

Across Alberta, monthly residential average prices were up from year-ago levels in Lloydminster, AB (+22.6%), South Central Alberta (+18%), Alberta West (+16.4%), Medicine Hat (+5.8%), Central Alberta (+5.3%), Edmonton Board (+2.1%), and Lethbridge (+0.9%). Prices declined in Grande Prairie (-1.3%), Calgary (-8.5%), and Fort McMurray (-10.5%). 

There were 4,175 new listings on the MLS® systems of real estate Boards in Alberta in December, rising 17.3% from a year earlier. Active residential listings numbered 22,901 units at the end of December, up 11% from one year earlier. 

The months of inventory ratio (total inventory/monthly sales activity) continues to be an important market indicator, comparing the number of months it would take to sell current inventories at the current rate of sales activity. This ratio can suggest if the market is moving quickly or slowly, and how long the average property may stay on the active market. The December months of inventory ratio was at 7.3. A score of 6.4 is still generally thought of as a "balance market," not favouring either the buyer or seller.