Some people are choosing to let their properties go, rather than contend with mounting bills, says a Calgary realtor. (CBC)

Calgary realtors are seeing more residential foreclosures right now than in the past decade.

There are about 550 properties currently listed in Calgary as bank sales, while about 100 are foreclosures; they account for about 10 per cent of all of the city's listings on the Canadian Real Estate Association's Multiple Listing Service (MLS).

Thirty-seven foreclosed properties were sold in the first quarter of 2009, compared to 39 for all of 2008, said Julie Vesuwalla, a real estate agent for Century 21.

"The majority of the actual foreclosures — more than 65 per cent — are single family homes, not condos, and they are owned by people," said Vesuwalla.

The majority of foreclosures are due to homeowners choosing to let their properties go rather than try to contend with mounting bills.

"Many of these people have left the city for other jobs. Also, many of them have upgraded and they've built a home perhaps and they're stuck with their old residence and they just have to get rid of one of them," she said.

Mireille McGowan invested all her savings and time on a new fourplex on Memorial Drive that she intended to sell. But she ran out of money and the bank foreclosed on the building.

"It's like owning a big, big property that we'll never see, and we're going to have to make monthly payments onto that, forever and ever," she told CBC News.

McGowan now has to make $30,000 monthly payments to the bank to cover the interest alone.

"If we don't come up to pay them, we have only six months; they will take next door, my house."