St. Albert house prices continue upward trend

St. Albert house prices continue upward trend

Median price for all city homes in January was $365K

By Susan JonesStaff Writer

House prices continue to climb in St. Albert in a market that reflects Edmonton’s buoyant economy.

"We’re taken aback because we forecast an increase in prices of 15 per cent in Edmonton for the entire year. But already from December 2006, prices are up 4.5 per cent and that’s in just one month," said Jon Hall, spokesman for the Edmonton Real Estate Board.

Historically houses are harder to sell in the first cold weeks of a new year, but this January in St. Albert a total of 87 properties were sold, compared to 62 homes in December. On average houses here sold in 28 days compared to 33 days in Edmonton.

The Edmonton region’s market is more robust than in Calgary, where prices have dropped by 1.5 per cent each month since November.

"Edmonton’s is a unique market. I think Calgary has reached the saturation point and Calgary prices are unsustainable. Calgary’s inventory of houses for sale is way up but there is no sign of that happening here," Hall said.

Hall used Canadian Real Estate Agency figures from November to explain his belief that Edmonton-area homes are still relatively inexpensive compared to other areas of the province and the country. In November, the average selling price for houses in St. Albert was $14,000 less than in Calgary. For the same month, average house prices in Edmonton were $79,000 less than Calgary’s average of $361,600.

"Our market is undervalued and our prices are still below the provincial average," said Hall.

Though price increases in St. Albert remained steady, people are still buying, Hall pointed out, and in January they had a variety of homes to choose from.

The lowest priced property in St. Albert was a condo that sold for $172,000 and the highest priced home was a bungalow that sold for $745,300. A total of 28 condos were sold, while 50 single family homes changed hands. Three bi-levels sold for $314,900, $382,000 and $385,000 respectively. The median selling price for all St. Albert house types was $365,000.

"There is still a range of houses for sale in St. Albert under $200,000 but there are top-end properties as well and obviously people are still buying and still have the capacity to buy. St. Albert is in step with the rest of the Edmonton market and prices haven’t crested yet by any sense," Hall said.

January Price Range

Sold St. Albert Homes

$172,000---------------lowest

$365,000--------------median

$745,300--------------highest

Article from the St. Albert Gazette - February 7, 2007