A down turn of 20%, no way, at least not this year. Yes we just had a very slow winter with prices going down a lot, but that was expected and will happen again next year. Now that January is here the market has picked up significantly, as Oxlong mentioned listings are close to 5,000 when there were 10,000+ at times near the end of 2007. Every one of my houses I have for sale, showings are picking up, and I just came across multiple offers on of of my listings, four to be exact. I predict an 8% gain with most coming in the first half of the year. Neat graphs Radley, and while I do agree that one of these years we'll see Calgary declining, just not this one.
Here's an email I received from Ron Stader - Real Estate Broker/Owner of CIR Realty, at the beginning of this year.
"Hi Everyone,
It appears our market is beginning to gain some momentum again. Many Buyers have been sitting on the sidelines, believing real estate prices would continue to go down. But this hasn’t really happened. In fact, lately the media have been quoting expert industry opinions forecasting prices will rise 7% to 9% in 2008.
As a result, some astute Buyers are re-thinking their “wait-and-see” strategy and are starting to take advantage of their current negotiating power and the large inventory of properties.
In my opinion, the coming spring market will be busy. There should be plenty of listings and plenty of Buyers, good news for you, CIR and our industry.
p.s. You may want to advise your Buyers it looks like this could be a good time
for them to get serious if they want to avoid paying more next year.
Ron"
|