Residential sales activity numbered 585 units in the fourth quarter of 2011, up 5 per cent from a year earlier.

On an annual basis 3,179 residential properties traded hands in 2011, edging down one per cent from 2010.

Sales activity for single detached homes was up 14 per cent from levels reported in the fourth quarter of 2010.

The number of months of inventory for single detached home sales was 6.2 at the end of the fourth quarter, down from 6.8 months a year earlier. Despite a tighter market, homebuyers took a little more time to shop compared to a year earlier.

The median sale price for single detached homes rose five per cent on a year-over-year basis to $251,450 in the fourth quarter of 2011.