It’s not only the residential construction industry that should fare better this year; the resale market is poised to grow as well, according to the forecast from the Calgary Real Estate Board last week. The difference this year will be due, in part, to fewer homes on the market, says its new president, Bob Jablonski, a realtor with Royal LePage Foothills. “The lower level of listings this year is partly due to less people being in a must-sell situation and the economic uncertainty preventing some people from listing. The decline in listings combined with improved sales helped reduce overall inventory levels in 2011.” He’s calling for a more balanced market this year – a total of 14,800 single-family sales, compared to 13,186 sales last year, and 5,700 condo sales, up from 5,382 in 2010. Still, he says, although the market “is on a path to recovery,” it will be slow. “Calgary has faced some tough times during the last recession and the housing market has been relatively weak since 2008.  In fact, 2010 had the lowest level of sales since 1995. In 2011, single family sales increased by 10% over 2010, but keep in mind, sales are well below long-run averages, indicating we are still in the early stages of recovery.” Prices of single-family homes will be “stable,” he says, moving up two per cent on average to $476,000. On the condo side as well, price growth will be “moderate”, going from an average of $287,172 to $292,000. CREB has hired Ann-Marie Lurie as its chief economist. With nearly 10 years experience in the real estate sector, Lurie brings a wealth of knowledge to CREB, providing factual real-time market conditions and commentary on the global and local economy.