Edmonton multi-family vacancy rates shrink

edmontonjournal.com January 30, 2012

 

EDMONTON – Vacancy rates for multi-family dwellings in Edmonton shrank by almost a full percentage point last year, according to a report released Monday by Avison Young.

Overall vacancy changed from 4.2 per cent in 2010 to 3.3 per cent in 2011, despite a small increase in vacancy in the city’s outlying areas.

The south of Edmonton, according to the report, was an especially tough market for renters with a vacancy rate of 1.4 per cent, while the north had a rate of five per cent. [continued...]

Long-delayed Glenora Skyline project set to begin digging in March

By Bill Mah, edmontonjournal.com   January 26, 2012

 

EDMONTON – Seven years after developer Alex Davidoff first proposed the Glenora Skyline, construction will start on the residential and commercial project in March.

The contentious development at 142nd Street and Stony Plain Road has been beset by delays since he first took it to city hall in 2005, when it was sent back for more work and reintroduced a year later.

[continued...]

 

Edmonton’s housing most affordable in Canada, survey shows

By Lewis Kelly, edmontonjournal.com January 24, 2012

 

EDMONTON – Edmonton enjoys the most affordable housing of Canada’s six major metropolitan regions, according to a study released Monday.

The International Housing Affordability Survey looks at housing in cities in the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and New Zealand along with Hong Kong. It found that among Canadian cities with populations above one million, Edmonton has the most affordable housing. [continued...]

The City of Edmonton has released its 2012 property assessments, and most residents saw a drop in the taxable values of their homes. Click here to access a map that allows you to compare the average assessment of single-family homes by neighbourhood in 2012 and 2011; as well as the percent change from 2010 to 2011, 2011 to 2012 and during the five years from 2007 to 2012.

Edmonton ranked among top performing global economies

By Derek Abma, Financial Post January 18, 2012

 

 

OTTAWA — Five out of seven Canadian cities considered among the top 200 local economies in the world were in the top half of rankings for economic performance last year, a Washington, D.C.-based research group said in a report issued Wednesday.

This report from the Brookings Institution rated Calgary the top performing Canadian city, or 51st overall, in terms achieving growth in economic output per capita and employment in 2011.

Calgary was listed as having gross domestic product per capita of $54,080 U.S., and having grown this by 1.5 per cent last year and seen employment gains of 2.7 per cent.

Also among the Canadian cities ranked in this list were Edmonton at 60th, Vancouver 76th, Toronto 79th, Hamilton, Ont. 83rd, Ottawa 109th and Montreal 120th. [continued...]

More gains in home prices expected

 

 

OTTAWA — Canada’s housing market will continue to be strong this year, with rising property values expected in all major markets, real estate brokerage firm Royal LePage said Thursday.

The company’s forecast called for prices across to country to rise 2.8 per cent by the end of 2012, after stronger gains last year. [continued...]

Alberta to buck national trend for new home construction

Housing starts expected to increase in 2012 and 2013

By Mario Toneguzzi, Calgary Herald  January 10, 2012

 

 

CALGARY — Alberta is expected to buck the national trend for new home construction in the next two years, according to a report by TD Economics.

After seeing a forecasted 6.3 per cent annual decline in 2011 to 25,200 housing starts, the report is predicting new home construction will increase in the province by 2.5 per cent in 2012 to 25,800 units and by another 1.6 per cent in 2013 to 26,200 units. [continued...]

Edmonton real estate market healthy and stable, Realtors say

By Lewis Kelly, edmontonjournal.com  January 4, 2012

 

 

EDMONTON – Edmonton wrapped up a stable year in real estate in December, the Realtors Association of Edmonton said Wednesday.

“It is a relief to report on the stability and health of the local real estate market,” said Chris Mooney, association president for 2011. “With prices and sales varying within a small range, there is a solid base going forward into the 2012 market.”

Mooney mentioned the European debt crisis and a depressed housing market in the U.S. as major concerns, but emphasized that the energy-based economy of Alberta in general and Edmonton in particular keeps the local housing market buoyant. [continued...]

 

Energy revival fuelling another Alberta boom

By Tamara Gignac, Postmedia News December 27, 2011

 

 

CALGARY — Albertans know all about the B-word: boom.

For much of the past decade the economic pace was blistering, led by massive projects in the oilsands. The result was scores of high-paying jobs, a red hot real estate market and an influx of thousands of new migrants.

The party was good while it lasted.

But in 2008, Albertans were blindsided by another B-word: bust.

A collapse in energy prices, the result of the U.S. financial crisis, took the steam out of Alberta’s once-buoyant economy.

The oilpatch shelved or cancelled billions of dollars worth of projects, jobs evaporated virtually overnight and ordinary Albertans struggled to pay their mortgages.

But after sputtering for much of the last three years, Alberta appears poised to regain its position as Canada’s economic juggernaut.

All signs suggest prosperity is sweeping the province. Unemployment is low, cash registers are ringing and the energy sector is once again on a hiring spree.

It begs the question: is Alberta headed for another overheated economy? [continued...]