Okotoks house prices continue to climb, setting another record in March, according to statistics released by the Calgary Real Estate Board.
The benchmark price, which the board says is the price of a typical home in an area, reached $610,700 last month, topping the previous all-time high of $605,500 set just a month earlier in February.
The benchmark price in Okotoks has hit new highs on five occasions over the past 12 months. After reaching $561,600 in March of last year, prices jumped to $586,900 in July and to $590,200 in November before eclipsing the $600,000 mark early this year.
The benchmark price is up 9.3 per cent year over year.
The detached benchmark price in Okotoks in March was $683,100, which is 10 per cent higher than the previous year.
The real estate board said Okotoks continues to struggle with supply and the persistently tight conditions are driving prices upward.
The board said prices have been rising for all property types, with the most significant year-over-year gains occurring for semi-detached and row properties.
There were 71 new listings in March, but 65 sales prevented any improvement in inventory levels.
There were only 54 units available in March, a year-over-year decline of 10 per cent and nearly 70 per cent below long-term trends for the month. It was the lowest March inventory level reported since 2006.
The most active sector of the market last month was between $500,000 and $599,999, which saw 16 sales, followed by 15 sales between $700,000 and $999,999.
There were three sales over $1 million.
In High River, the benchmark price was $466,100 in March, which is up 9.3 per cent year over year. There were 22 sales in High River last month, seven of them in the $300,000 to $399,999 range.
A comparison of detached benchmark prices across the region shows Calgary at $739,700, Airdrie at $636,500, Cochrane at $654,500, High River at $543,100 and Chestermere at $787,700, which are up anywhere from 9.5 to 14 per cent year over year.
