Home sales growth in the surrounding towns and cities far outpaced the growth in the city of Calgary in 2012, ending the year up 21 per cent, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Overall in Calgary, MLS sales grew by 14.66 per cent in 2012 compared with the previous year.

“When we look back at 2012, we see stronger growth and sales activity in the towns than in Calgary,” said Becky Walters, CREB’s president. “We see double-digit sales growth for the year. We’re seeing price recovery, just like in Calgary, with prices being well below the peak levels we saw in 2007.”

There were 3,970 MLS sales in 2012 just outside Calgary with the single-family average sale price at $374,136, down 0.51 per cent from 2011.

The top three towns – Airdrie, Okotoks and Cochrane – all recorded double-digit sales growth.

Airdrie’s sales of 1,152 were up 22.55 per cent with the average single-family home sale price increasing by 2.53 per cent to $370,905.

Okotoks saw sales growth of 11.85 per cent to 585 transactions and the average sale price for a single-family home rose by 0.32 per cent to $415,415.

In Cochrane, year-over-year sales rose by 25.43 per cent to 508 and the average price for a single-family home dipped by 1.24 per cent to $426,127.

For the City of Calgary, the average price of all residential properties sold, 21,207 in total, was up 3.44 per cent to $428,655 in 2012 while the average price for a single-family home increased by 3.16 per cent to $481,236.

“The surrounding towns, in general, have done well, and that’s because people are looking for affordable alternatives,” said Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB’s chief economist. “In the surrounding towns, you can get more home than what you would get in the city. The homes are larger and usually less expensive, and, with a tighter supply of single-family homes in Calgary, the surrounding towns are just more attractive to homebuyers.”

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