SLOW RESALE MARKET PROMPTS COUPLE TO BECOME LANDLORDS
Average price drops 9.3% No matter how you look at it, Calgary’s resale housing market took a beating in January compared with last year.

Scot and Jacquelynn Benson bought a home in Chestermere in September, and decided to keep their condo in McKenzie Towne and rent it out rather than try to sell it.

MLS sales plunged by a staggering 50 per cent, sending the average sale price down by 9.3 per cent for single-family homes and 13 per cent for condominiums, according to data released Tuesday by the Calgary Real Estate Board.

Local housing sales have been affected by confidence levels among Calgarians, said Todd Hirsch, senior economist with ATB Financial in Calgary.

“They’re a little shakier than they were a year ago,” he said. “There’s been a lot of changes to the economy and people are more hesitant to make a big decision about buying a home or getting into the market.”

He said many people are also playing the waiting game as they speculate whether prices will continue to fall.
“ They’re i n the market. They’re looking around, but they’re waiting until they have a clear sign that prices have levelled off and then they’re going to get back into the market,” said Hirsch, adding that in this “soft” economy Calgary is experiencing a normal price correction.

In January, there were 550 single-family home sales in Calgary metro with an average sale price of $413,049 and a median price of $374,700. It took an average 62 days on the market to sell. For condos, there were 225 sales with an average sale price of $270,940 and a median price of $243,000. Condos took 64 days on average to sell.

In January 2008, single-family home sales in Calgary metro numbered 1,083 with an average sale price of $455,297 and a median price of $410,000. The average to sell a home was 50 days.

In the condo market, there were 454 sales with an average sale price of $311,232 and a median price of $290,000. It took an average of 48 days on the market to sell a condo.

Average MLS sale prices have fallen by more than 18 per cent from their peaks of $505,920 in July 2007 for single-family homes and $332,237 in May 2007 for condos.

In this environment, some potential sellers have either decided to take their property off the market or not list it at all.