Sales of residential properties numbered 1,283 units in the fourth quarter of 2011, an increase of three per cent from one year earlier.

On an annual basis, home sales numbered 6,367 units in 2011. This was a three per cent decrease from annual sales in 2010.

Single-family home sales were up two per cent on a year-over-year basis in the fourth quarter of 2011, while the number of months of inventory increased from levels recorded at the end of the fourth quarter of 2010.

Even with a more balanced market, homebuyers took only slightly longer to shop than they had in the same period in 2010.

The median sale price for single-family home sales edged up one per cent year-over-year to $333,000 in the fourth quarter of 2011.