At least a third of condos and houses on the market in Calgary are vacant, prompting concern from a real estate agent that sellers aren’t being realistic about the price they hope to get for their properties.

"Sellers are having a hard time grasping that we are not in early last year’s market," said Kristen McNaughton, a Calgary real estate agent. "In the fall, we definitely saw a dip, and it cooled down to more of a balanced market and that's what needed to happen." 

McNaughton said sellers with vacant properties may have bought in hopes of reselling, or recently moved to newly built homes. The next two weeks will say a lot about the 2007 market, she said, with sellers either pulling their properties off the market to rent them, or lowering their prices. Kevin Clark, president of the Calgary Real Estate Board, said almost half of the properties that sold in December went at a reduced price. "There are properties that were overpriced, are still overpriced and haven’t sold, and therefore becoming vacant," he said. Clients unwilling to drop their prices are banking on the possibility that the market will again get red hot, McNaughton said. ~ CBC News