The Canadian Real Estate Association released national housing figures today and show that Canadian home sales hold steady in August.

Compared to national housing prices released by CREA today, the Edmonton market is affordable. While the average price for a home nationally is $349,916, the local homebuyer will find an average priced home for just $324,217. Of course prices will vary from neighbourhood to neighbourhood.  Nationally housing prices have jumped up 7.7% over a year ago, while locally prices have dipped about a third of a percent from August 2010.

According to the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton the local market is balanced with a sales-to-new listing ratio of 51%. Nationally the same ratio is 51.6%

Nationally, the number of months of inventory stood at 6.2 months at the end of August while locally there was just 5.5 months of available inventory. In the Edmonton area, residential sales in August dropped 3% from July figures as typical for this time of year. However, the sales numbers were higher than same month sales in 2010 both locally and nationally.

Consumers are reminded to keep their eye on local trends and to discuss their home buying and selling needs with a REALTOR® who can advise on strategies that reflect local market conditions.  For more information on local housing figures released on September 2 by the REALTORS® Association of Edmonton, see the web site at ereb.com.