Sep 1, 2010, Calgary MLS sales plunge in August

Calgary’s slumping residential real estate market took another hit in August with sales plunging compared with a year ago and prices dropping on a monthly basis.

According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, there were only 867 single-family home sales in the city in August, down about 32 per cent from August 2009 (1,277 sales) and slightly down from the 915 sales recorded the previous month.

The average MLS sale price for a single-family home fell to $445,617, which was down 4.1 per cent from July and also off by 1.9 per cent from a year ago. The year-over-year decline was the first month since July 2009 where single-family home prices were lower than the previous year.

In the condominium market, sales plunged by about 42 per cent from last year as only 364 sales took place in Calgary for an average price of $286,384. The average price decreased by 1.6 per cent from July but was up 1.1 per cent from August 2009.

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald