Many furnished condos in Calgary are sitting empty, partly because there are fewer oil and gas professionals in the city.

Real estate agent Sam Cheng said the jobs and high salaries are drying up.

"There were lots of contractors coming from other provinces," he said. "But now, the contracts are being terminated. They have to move out. They have no income at all."

For the past three years, Tammy Fujita has rented her furnished Eau Claire condo out to executives for $2,500 a month.

"I've had [my condo] for three years, and it's only been vacant for one month. So, it's been fantastic," she said.

But today, it is sitting empty.

Condo prices peaked in mid-2007

Real estate agent Peppe Bhasin agrees with Cheng that the drop in condo sales and prices over the last year is also playing a role.

The average price of a condo peaked in mid-2007 at $316,370. The Calgary Real Estate Board predicts it will drop to $287,300 by the end of the year.

"Nobody knew where this was going," Bhasin said of the real estate roller coaster. "A lot of the first-time buyers jumped into the market a year or 18 months ago, and suddenly now, the market's adjusting."

People who need to sell their condos but can't are trying to rent it out, adding furniture to sweeten the appeal.

The good news, say real estate agents, is that buyers and renters can get a good deal on a condo, furnished or not.