Home sales activity in Newfoundland and Labrador posted a second consecutive double-digit year-over-year increase in the fourth quarter of 2011.

Residential sales numbered 1,278 units in the fourth quarter, a 23 per cent increase from the fourth quarter of 2010. Newfoundland and Labrador recorded gains of more than 10 per cent in all three months of the quarter.

Annual sales totalled 4,480 units in 2011, rising six per cent from the annual figure in 2010.

Single detached and multi-family unit sales were both up year-over-year in the third quarter. Activity for single detached units increased by slightly more, rising 23 per cent from year-ago levels compared to a 21 per cent increase for multi-family home sales.

Single detached home sales were up from year-ago levels in all areas of the province with the exception of Conception Bay North. Growth in multi-family sales was focused in St. John’s, which recorded an increase of 21 per cent in activity compared to a year earlier.

The number of months of inventory was down in the fourth quarter of 2011 compared to a year earlier for single detached homes. Multi-family units also saw a decrease in the number of months of inventory compared to the same period in 2010.

Even with a tighter market, buyers of single detached homes spent the same amount of time shopping before making a purchase. Buyers of multi-family units took longer to shop in the fourth quarter than they had a year earlier.

Median sale prices for both housing categories rose from levels a year earlier to set new records, both provincially and in St. John’s.

The median sale price for single detached homes increased four per cent from year-ago levels to $263,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011. The median sale price for single detached homes in St. John’s increased seven per cent from a year earlier to $315,000.

The median price for multi-family unit sales was up eight per cent on a year-over-year basis to $280,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011. The median sale price for multi-family units in St. John’s rose 16 per cent from year-ago levels to $295,500.