As I write this, we are in a better place than we were at the end of October.  But it is somewhat to be expected as invetory usually drops off this time of year.  End of October we were sitting around 8500 listings and right now we are just over 8000.  This is good, except that we still have 7.8 months worth of invetory on the market with the number of sales that are happening.  In a truly balanced market, we should see this number of months be around 2-4.

Advice to Sellers:

Right now, you are wanting to really stay on top of the pricing of your home.  We have bargain hunters out there, with low bids that are driving the prices down.  If you are in a true need to sell your home, you will have to most likely cut your price further, as this is what buyers are looking for right now.  As in the past, when it was the sellers day to shine, and prices were rising, and it felt you could ask almost anything for you home, it’s reversed.  Will it stay this way forever, and prices go back down to year 2000 prices… probably not.  We still have a strong economy.  Across Canada, prices have dropped about 14% and Alberta had the least amount of price reductions at 7%.  We are still THE province in Canada.  But make sure you take a serious look at what it is your selling, and what your asking for it…

Advice to Buyers

BUY… BUY… BUY…  Right now, more than ever, is a great time to purchase a new home or investment property.  Especially with Christmas coming up and the number of motivated sellers rising daily.  We have seen some incredible price drops, and buyers that we work with get some great deals.  These days will pass, and it will go back to a balanced or a sellers market, so you don’t want to miss your chance to get into the new home that you are waiting for…

Here is a link to the last CREB (Calgary Real Estate Board) report put out for October 2008

Below are some graphs about the Calgary Real Estate Market over the last year… Hope you find them helpful.

You can click on the images to enlarge them in a new browser window.