The red-hot Calgary real estate market experienced the highest year-over-year increases in the country last month, according to the latest figures from the Canadian Real Estate Association.

The average home resale in Calgary was $358,214 in May, up 43.6 per cent from the same month a year ago.

In Edmonton the average sale price hit $242,936, an increase of 22.9 per cent from May 2005.

Nationally, the average sale price of an existing home in 25 of Canada's major markets topped $300,000 in May for the first time ever.

Multiple Listing Service (MLS) figures show that the average home sold for a record $303,836, up 12.9 per cent from May 2005. It was the biggest yearly increase recorded in two years.

"Recent price increases are resulting in a growing shortage of lower-priced resale home listings in a number of markets," CREA chief economist Gregory Klump noted in a statement.

"This is crimping sales in lower-price ranges and pushing up the average price for MLS home sales."

Overall, sales in the country's major markets rose 4.4 per cent to a record 37,460 units in May. On a year-to-date basis, sales activity broke records in 12 cities across the country.

Here is a sampling of average MLS home prices in May (with year-over-year changes in brackets):

  • Vancouver: $518,176 (+23.7%)
  • Victoria: $515,755 (+15.6%)
  • Calgary: $358,214 (+43.6%)
  • Edmonton: $242,936 (+22.9%)
  • Regina: $142,147 (+10.3%)
  • Saskatoon: $162,279 (+11.5%)
  • Winnipeg: $159,801 (+12.5%)
  • Thunder Bay, Ont.: $118,804 (-9.0%)
  • Toronto: $365,537 (+5.5%)
  • Ottawa: $260,219 (+4.7%)
  • Montreal: $219,433 (+8.2%)
  • Quebec City: $150,324 (+6.9%)
  • Saint John, N.B.: $129,844 (+12.3%)
  • Halifax-Dartmouth: $210,225 (+7.6%)
  • Nfld. & Lab.: $133,541 (-1.2%)
  • Canada: $303,836 (+12.9%)