CREB TALK - January 9, 2009

REAL ESTATE MARKET COOLS AS 2008 COMES TO A CLOSE
Single family Calgary metro sales for the month of December totaled 449, showing a decrease of 47 per cent from the 846 sales in December 2007 and showing a decrease of 33 per cent from November’s sales of 670. The year end number of Calgary metro single family sales was 13,455, showing a decrease of 27 per cent from the 18,438 sales recorded in 2007. The number of condominium sales for the month of December was 205, a decrease of 48 per cent from the 393 condominium sales recorded in December 2007 and showing a decrease of 28 per cent from November 2008 when 284 condominiums changed hands. In 2008, a total of 5,661 condominium sales transpired, showing a 31 per cent decrease over the 8,236 condominium sales recorded in 2007.
“Overall, I think 2008 was a reasonable year for real estate in Calgary, however, our third quarter really hurt us for unit sales,” said CREB® President, Ed Jensen. “If we look back over the past few years, 2006 was an anomaly that presented all the opportunity to the seller. Things started off the same in 2007, but began to shift toward the end of the second quarter, as we watched the supply versus demand gap widen; suddenly all the opportunities that were present for the seller, were now shifting over to the buyer. 2008 basically stayed on that path, with high supply and moderate to low demand. Currently, there are still great opportunities available to the buyer, but how long that will last remains to be seen. Consumers are sitting tight at the moment, watching their dollars and the media at the same time. I look forward to 2009 and seeing what kind of market we’ll be presented with. I don’t have a crystal ball, but I know one thing for certain, your REALTOR® is your best asset in a shifting market.” Jensen concluded.