[troutman]

Calgary house prices to inch toward $500,000

Real estate board predicts 5% gain in 'normal' market

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/...b-419390655464

In its 2008 forecast Wednesday, real estate board president Ed Jensen said the MLS average will increase by five per cent this year to $495,800 while condominium prices will rise by six per cent to an average of $335,300.

Total sales will dip by five per cent for both the condo and single-family markets, to 7,700 and 17,500 respectively, compared with 2007.

Lai Sing Louie, senior market analyst in Calgary for Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., said the organization's forecast for 2008 is similar to the real estate board's.

"We're looking at about 5.5 per cent moderation in MLS sales and our price growth is in the same ballpark. We're looking around the 3.5 to five per cent level, too," said Louie. "There is a lot of supply out there. Going into the last part of the year we saw demand ease off. Some of that was because of the higher prices, but also there is a lower level of net migration that we're seeing coming to Alberta."