Calgary real estate slides again in November as prices drop 5.1%

Homes sold last month sat on the market for an average of 45 days

There are more homes for sale in the city than last year and they're sitting on the market for longer, while selling for less, according to data from the Calgary Real Estate Board. (Sheryl Nadler/CBC)

Home sales and prices continued their year-over-year decline in November, according to the latest aggregated data from the Calgary Real Estate Board.

A total of 1,263 homes were sold in the city last month, down 28.7 per cent from November 2014.

Average sale prices were off 5.1 per cent year-over-year, sliding to $460,859.

Median prices, meanwhile, were down 4.2 per cent to $410,149.

The number of active listings stood at 5,316, up 31 per cent from a year earlier, while the average length of time homes sat on the market climbed 18.4 per cent to 45 days.

"The housing market is reflecting the realities of the economic conditions," CREB chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie said in a release.

"Calgary has continued to post job losses in the energy sector, unemployment levels are high, wages are down and recovery expectations have changed. All of these factors have contributed to the weak demand we have seen throughout the year."

Overall, CREB now considers the real estate market to "favour buyers." 

The November numbers continue an autumn trend this year. Average prices in September and October were down about six per cent from the same months in 2014.

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