After clinching the NFC West and earning a playoff berth this season, the San Francisco 49ers this month said the team will not raise ticket prices next year.

“Thanks 49ers faithful for being the best fans in the NFL,” 49ers CEO Jed York recently wrote on Twitter. “Let me be the first to tell you we are keeping season ticket prices FLAT for 2012.”

At 10-3 under new coach Jim Harbaugh, the team is in the midst of one of its best seasons in years. Last season, the 49ers finished 6-10.

49ers sales have been strong on the secondary market and are likely to stay that way into next season, TicketCity owner Randy Cohen told TicketNews.

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“The amazing year the 49ers are having is the catalyst that will drive more fans to support the team,” Cohen said. “I do believe that fans will start to take advantage of better quality of seats and as the economy continues to recover more fans will spend to be located in the lower level yard-line seats.”

The average price for a ticket to the team’s December 19 home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers has climbed to $491 as of today, December 14, according to ticket search engine SeatGeek.

Next spring, the team is expected to break ground on a new stadium in nearby Santa Clara, CA, that could also boost future ticket sales.

The new 68,500-seat stadium will cost about $1 billion, and the team and city have secured $850 million in loans from Goldman Sachs, Bank of America-Merrill Lynch and U.S. Bank to help finance it. The 49ers reportedly could move into the new stadium as early as the 2014-2015 season.

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