Here is our update on the Edmonton real estate market. (Previous week’s numbers are in brackets). For the past 7 days:
New listings: 608 (709, 762, 671)
# Sales: 245 (299, 300, 279)
Ratio: 40% (42%, 39%, 42%)
# Price changes: 572 (605, 768, 603)
# Expired Listings: 205 (192, 161, 450)
# Canceled/withdrawn/terminated listings: 57 (55, 61, 71)
Net loss/gain in listings this week: 101 (163, 240, -129)
Active listings for single family homes: 4303 (4223, 4163, 3985)
Active listings for condos: 3210 (3147, 3096, 2953)
The average sale price is still up over last month to $344,123 (April’s average was $336,93) and sales for the month are at 1283 – which should put us somewhere around 1700 for the month – perhaps the sales have peaked early this year. Inventory is at a new high of 11,538.
One thing for certain, we were at Hole’s last weekend and there were hundreds of people getting gardening supplies who weren’t out looking at houses. Who wants to look at houses on the first gorgeous weekend of the year? Who wants to look at houses in the pouring rain….maybe weather has nothing to do with it!
From the inventory analysis, you can really see a pattern forming with new listings…lots of expiries at the end of the month, then new listings peak in the 1st or 2nd week of each month and tail off again…. I guess that means we should have another new crop coming in two week’s time. Happy weekend!
One must believe that a further correction will be forthcoming shortly.
I will be waiting for some more time yet. Reason: Because, the inventory is so high that even if the market picked up, the prices won’t. So why not wait?
These stats are like watching the same movie over and over again.
I don’t think there will be a further correction. I think we are starting to see a picture here.
Has anyone considered that in a city of over a million people that about 10,000 listings isn’t that high? It seems high comparing it to listing numbers during the boom — we need to stop looking back and reflecting/longing for the good ol’ times. We may be looking at the future. That future is: knowing that houses are not cheap anymore, but you have some selection.
We are just beginning to see how resilient we are consider what’s happening down in the United States. Good for us! Instead of finding things wrong and why things are going to come tumbling down…give ourselves a damned pat on the back for once!!
I know of a few families paying two mortgages right now. You can bet that they think 10,000 listings is pretty damn high for a city of 1 million.
13,500 mls and 3,000 on comfree
1,000,000 divided by 18,500 equals about 1 house for every 50 people
13,500 mls and 3,000 on comfree
1,000,000 divided by 18,500 equals about 1 house for every 50 people
A lot of comfree homes are on MLS, so more like, 1 house per 60
The Median price is continuing to drop in both Edmonton and Calgary as average buyers are disappearing. The million dollar McMansions are scewing the average price. Albeit, the McMansion buyers are probably getting good buys from sellers that can’t afford them anymore.
Brent, median prices are continuing to fall….really? Bob Trumans site shows them up every month since November/07 except for January/08, for a total increase of about 4% in Edmonton and the median is about the same in Calgary as it was in Sept/07 and off only 4% from the all time high. Sewing panic is an art, you’de have been better to pick price per square foot…oops it’s up 2% this month to…never mind.
13,500 + 3,000 doesn’t equal 18,500.
We’re down about 9% from the peak.
Hi Sara,
Sorry, I asked about this before – why doesn’t the total SFH’s of 4,303 and total condos of 3,210 add up to the total inventory of 11,538? If I understood you correctly, the 11,538 includes listings from outside of Edmonton – can you confirm this?
I love this blog, thanks Sara and Sheldon.
I guess the prediction is coming true, the market in Edmonton will rebound especially with the natural gas reaching $12 and Saskatoon will start to enter the plateau. It is going to be an interesting fall. The inventory will be down substantially by October. The Oil Peak is passed and Alberta is in a very sweet position compared to other parts of the world.
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The higher natural gas prices don’t seem to be spurring drilling activity in 2008:
“Surging commodity prices have driven up a rig count forecast for 2008 by 4,000 wells, but Canada’s drilling contractors still face their most idle year since 1992.
That fact is leading the country’s biggest driller, Precision Drilling Trust, to accelerate its plan to move Canadian drilling equipment to the United States.
(…)
The forecast means the Canadian fleet of 885 rigs, mainly in Western Canada, will be working in the field less than half of the time.
“It’s still going to be a grim year,” said association chairman Don Herring. “We typically use the number 50 to 55 per cent utilization for the industry to be economically viable, so numbers below 50 per cent, particularly if they’re sustained, describe an industry in trouble.””
http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/calgarybusiness/story.html?id=4f778210-e889-4fae-88e4-52962991ab9c
Also the soaring price of oil appears to be driven by speculation:
“Even in the depths of the credit crunch in March, Chen Zhao, global investment strategist at Bank Credit Analyst in Montreal, advised clients that oil was a candidate for a classic financial mania.
As oil roars to new record highs, Zhao said that with global growth slowing and supplies relatively stable, there was no economic reason the price should be setting new highs. However, mania could take it higher still, he said.
“Every day the thing is going up,” Zhao said in an interview. “We know demand is not exceeding supply on a daily basis, no way. It’s got to be something else. It’s definitely a building mania.””
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news/business/story.html?id=9c72f0f8-1116-49d9-b758-89842bb35f0e
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Metro Phoenix has the population of about 4.2 million and roughly 60,000 properties listed. The Phoenix market is considered a bust having the ratio of approximately 1 property per 70 people. Metro Edmonton has a very similar ratio as indicated above.
Unless sales rebound significantly the downward pressure on R/E prices in Edmonton will continue.
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Sure, speculations it is, forget the experts and scientists, we have plenty of fossil feuls laying around, time to buy a half a dozen of SUV’s:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/15840232?video=747947551
http://www.theoildrum.com
I agree with BAD and Brent, the rigs are idle, the unemployment is all over the place in Alberta, people are lining up at shelters. Geologists and rig workers are starving, I can see this in the streets of Edmonton.
Wake up and smell the coffee, a co-op third year Engineering student is making 5K per month working at Conoco Philips during her coop year. An Engineering Graduate was snatched by Devon making over $70K per year. They must need them to guard the idle rusty rigs, lol.
Itchy,
Nope, the Median price is down in Edmonton for the first two weeks of May and I’m sure the last two weeks won’t be any better.
Even $135 dollar oil can’t save Alberta real estate prices. I think prices peaked when oil was still $80ish a barrel. Shows you how much the two are related. All the transcient Alberta jobs were in construction and they go as real estate goes.
Brent said “All the transcient Alberta jobs were in construction and they go as real estate goes.”
Right Brent, I have to agree with your great informative analysis. Now all these carpenters, plumbers and construction workers are lining up for food coupons and a bus ticket to Detroit so they can get a job with Ford and GM. Detroit and Windsor are the places to be right now.
It is amazing, my laugh for the day, lol.
Brent,
Your comment of median prices continue to fall seemed a little disingenuous. I guess if you’re a bear on the market and you need something to hang on to I guess a 2 week .7% drop in median price while the other 2 measures (avg. price and price psf) are up…..fill your boots. As far as being “sure the last 2 weeks won’t be any better”….based on what, gut feeling/hairs on the back of the neck, or just hope? Where are you finding information that the average buyer is disappearing? Sales continue to follow the 03/04/05 trend line quite closely and the fact is that non-average buyers (read investors) inflated the 06/07 numbers. Since investor activity has been stifled, what you are left with is average buyers.
Having said all that, looking at the inventory as it stands now, if we head into Aug/Sept with the same numbers we’ll likely have trouble hanging on to any gains realized so far this year. It will be interesting to see what happens from here. Last year we hit peak inventory during the traditional drop off in sales time period….hence a fairly sharp correction. This year looks more normal to me in the sense that we’ll hit highest inventory at the traditional time and hopefully we’ll see inventory slowly start to drop off this summer.
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This speech has been delivered on April 21, 2008:
“Now, I should like to look at the first of the key issues: volatility. This continues to have a serious impact on the oil market, together with the persistent upward pressure on prices.
Non-fundamental factors have been mainly responsible for this. Indeed, as is well-known, in today’s market, crude oil prices have become detached from the dynamics of supply and demand.
The heightened levels of speculation have been a principal driving force behind the volatility, with oil becoming a financial asset. The falling value of the US dollar has encouraged additional inflows of money into the crude oil futures markets. We welcome recent moves by many industrialised countries and key intergovernmental bodies to address the financial turmoil and help reduce speculation. This comes nearly a year and a half after OPEC and the European Union held a joint workshop on the impact of financial markets on crude oil prices.
Also contributing to the volatility are the ongoing geopolitical developments, perceived market tightness and bottlenecks in the refinery sector. The last factor is compounded by the fact that the expansion of refinery capacity is under pressure to keep pace with rising demand for lighter products and more stringent specifications.
(…)
Without the confidence that additional demand for oil will emerge, and without the market signals that long-run prices are supportive, the incentive to invest can be affected. Just like anyone else, oil producers do not want to invest in capacity that will not be used.
There is a clear need, therefore, to increase security of demand. One important area where consumers can act is in policy-making — through the introduction of greater predictability, consistency, stability and transparency. The Joint Oil Data Initiative has, of course, been a good starting point in this respect.
(…)
However, one area where there is a high level of certainty is the oil resource base. There is no doubt that the world has enough resources of oil to satisfy consumers for decades to come.
Estimates from the US Geological Survey of ultimately recoverable reserves have practically doubled since the early 1980s, from just under 1.7 trillion barrels to over 3.3 trillion barrels — while cumulative production, during the same period, has been less than one-third of this increase.
Improved technology, successful exploration and enhanced recovery have enabled the world to increase its resource base to levels well above the expectations of the past, and this will continue in the future.
However, there is still further to go with recovery rates, which average around 35 per cent globally. With the appropriate application of technology, recovery rates of double the present average are seen as achievable.
More than three-quarters of the world’s proven recoverable crude oil reserves lie in OPEC’s Member Countries, and these states are committed to ensuring that consumers receive their oil in a secure, orderly and sustainable manner. This is, of course, subject to the appropriate demand conditions being in place, and here I refer back to my comments about minimising uncertainty.”
http://www.opec.org/opecna/Speeches/2008/SGpres11IEF.htm
The concern of speculation continues as indicated here:
“Responding to the remarks of the President, El-Badri said that the crude oil market remains well supplied with OECD stocks increasing above their five year average. The Secretary General expressed concern about the volatility that has characterized the market in recent times, noting that non-fundamentals are now the major drivers of the market. While assuring that OPEC will continue to strive to bring stability to the oil market, he also called on other stakeholders in the industry – consumers, producers, investors – to cooperate to find a lasting solution to the volatility.”
http://www.opec.org/opecna/Press%20Releases/2008/pr082008.htm
What is happening on the natural gas drilling home front?
From the Alberta Oil Magazine – Royal Delusions: Fallout from the royalty review’s “unintended consequences” – article:
“In ratcheting royalties upward in proposed fashion, drilling activity is forced downward by sheer economics.
(…)
Today the price of natural gas is continental making it fairly similar right across North America. So we don’t look to gas price differentials to explain fact that gas drilling has plummeted in Alberta while increasing in the United States. The factors beyond the erosion of gas economics in Alberta are numerous: sharply rising costs, especially labour, which is influenced by ultra-strong oilsands activity; the strong Canadian dollar, which has cut about $3/Mcf from the Canadian gas price and the aforementioned weak average gas price (relative to oil).
(…)
The euphemism for this “made in Alberta” downturn is “unintended consequences.” The soon-to-be enacted new royalty regime with its ambiguous intentions but dire results is clearly a further economic encumbrance on an already beleaguered natural gas industry.
Ziff Energy regards this sharp downturn as “made in Alberta” quite simply because, during the same time, gas related drilling has soared in the U.S.
(…)
Specialized equipment is being sent abroad, to the U.S., Russia and even Algeria. One questions why these producers and service companies with their high-tech equipment and jobs would return to Alberta – and its murky outlook – once they had profitably ensconced themselves elsewhere?”
http://zegapi.com/view/?book_name=AOMar08
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You bulls are in such denial.
Inventory is at all time record highs (and we keep adding to it every week), sales to new list ratio is low, sales are down huge year over year, median and average price down year over year. The only thing I can see that’s up is days on market.
I know you guys are going to say we have to compare to pre boom sales etc… but how can we if the city has grown so much over the last two years. Shouldn’t demand be higher?
Things will get back to normal.
Travis the 11,538 is for metro edmonton (inludes sherwood park, ect.). The other stats are for just edmonton. The difference is about 300,000 people to total up to a little over 1 mil.
Itchy,
I am glad you see the positive side of prices “going up”, but how about looking at it from a different perspective:
Let’s say the Average family decided to buy an average detached family home in May 2007. They had about 1581 homes in all price ranges to choose from, and eventually paid the average price of $426,028.
For reasons beyond their control, they had to sell the same house at the end of April 2008, competing with 3800 other sellers of detached homes. They sold for the new average price of $386,033.
Sure, it’s lucky for them that they didn’t have to sell in November for the even lower average price of $376,267.
But I don’t think the Averages feel like prices have “gone up”. They are coming up short by $39,995, or 9.4%, which takes quite a dent out of their down payment…..
Now, my hypothetical Average family was actually among the
“lucky” ones. They managed to sell.
Friends of ours traded up to a more expensive home in April 2007. They held off putting their old home on the market, hoping to see further price increases narrow the gap a bit.
In August, they asked for 650K, for a very nice house, in a very nice neighborhood. In March or April 2007, they would probably have had no problem selling quickly. But not so in the Fall. Now it’s 2008, and their asking price has dropped to 480K, but still no bites.
The majority of the 623 houses on the market with an asking price of more than $600K are just sitting there, many for almost a year, on and off, and often despite some significant price drops.
There seem to be definitely two markets with different sales patterns:
Below $600K, where a significant number of buyers can still qualify for a mortgage. And above $600K, where a very small number of buyers seem to pick up only the very best houses.
Strangely, there are fewer price reductions above $700K than there are in the $500K – $700K range, although the inventory barely moves. It seems that the prices are compressing in the lower ranges first.
With the inventory continuing to grow, although more slowly now, it will be interesting to see what happens to prices when we get into August.
Just a hint…
Buy in Winnipeg.
We sold our super inflated home here in edmonton in just 4 days 3 weeks ago at 99% asking and we just flew back from Winnipeg where we bought another house. The market there is where Edmonton was in summer 2006. Buy now as flippers can expect a good 20% appreciation within 6 months!!!
This is why I do not post here anymore. Market as levelled in this over-inflated disadvantage province.
These are the Alberta stats from the biggest perma bull of them all…
YEAR-TO-DATE 2008 2007 % Change
Sales 19,978 27,908 – 28.4 %
Average Price $359,135 $347,681 – 3.3 %
New Listings 50,554 38,034 + 32.9 %
Source: Canadian Real Estate Association
… the only thing that’s going up in this province is the amount of listings.
First, I doubt about the statistics. Those people who publish the number must have very very hard time to manipulate the number. If you ask the people who have purchased their houses recently, they will tell you a big drop of their purchasing price. I point is: Don’t believe this statistics, go and do your own research.
Second, there are so many condominium buildings under construction now. They will cause tremendous impact to the housing market. If you don’t believe, just wait and see….
Well their CREA’s stat’s and you know it’s in their best interest to make the Canadian real estate market look as positive as they possibly can.
I wonder when will be the bottom in the condos apartment style. I think I would like to buy some when the rent will pay the mortgage. I am waiting for the initial speculators to get punished the buy a few for long term holds. I am only involved in houses presently as they are the only safe thing in my opinion. What are your thoughts on the coming crash for condos and when do you think it will happen IE 1 to 3 years
I crunched a few numbers, and found that residential sales in the first four months of 2008 were actually better compared to the same period in 2003, 2004, or 2005, although not nearly as good as in 2006 and especially 2007, which were unusually high.
The problem really seems to be the excessive inventory that has built up. Given that we have a larger population than we had in 2003, there should be no problem getting rid of the inventory, provided prices of starter homes come back in reach of first-time buyers, so that everybody can complete their trade-ups.
We looked at a number of Open Houses today and found that some sellers are actually pricing their entry-level properties very competitively now.
I guess Pierre was right. There is no point in wasting our precious time debating with people who do not know the lay of the land. It is amazing to see people say that the rigs are idle while anyone who travels along highway 625 in Nisku would see a tremendous number of “Help wanted” signs for all sort of rig crews, welders, technicians and other highly priced oil field jobs while Ontario, Quebec and all the US are facing dramatic lay-offs. If there are idle rigs then this is because there are not enough people to operate it. Everyone who can walk is working in Alberta. Everyone who has a trade or a profession is making a killing in Alberta and this would not change until they invent a fuel out of thin air. Alberta is different and it is indeed the envy of the world. If Alberta were a country, it would have been the richest country of the world, like it or not. The US economy is crashing; Ontario has tough years ahead of it. Saskatchewan and Manitoba will come to a screech stop pretty soon. Adios Amigos, got to sleep early so I could wake up to make some good money to subsidize the have-not province of Ontario.
Brent said : “In Edmonton the condo’s going up look like your street on garbage day. There’s garbage bins every where you look.”
Sure Brent, you do not like Edmonton. Since you firmly believe that Alberta and Edmonton suck that much, I highly recommend that you relocate to a better place where unemployment benefits are better accessible.
good one Mike, but yes there is garbage out there, it would be interesting to know is inventory high in good areas or not so good areas because I know some people who want a particular type of property in a particular location with reasonable price but are having tough time to find it, so if we can separate which parts of the city are showing hightest and then second hightest and so on inventory we may know the problem areas and as homeowners will have benefit of knowledge.
Mike…you don’t need to count wanted signes, just go to the CAODC website. Rig utilization rates and forecasts are right there:
http://www.caodc.ca/rigcounts.htm
Mike, you grossly overestimate the amount of oil and gas that Alberta has. We’re barely a blip on the radar right now in international oil production.
We would be the richest country in the world? Envy of all others?
It’s tough to even respond to statements as disconnected as those.
Nate,
You’re probably right if you just look at yearly production numbers as they stand now. There are lots of countries that produce more than us at the present. However our oil sands production which may top 5 million barrels a year (eventually but seems rather optomistic to me) is a rapidly growing industry. So while our output is increasing many traditional high output countries are at or near a peak. What’s more we’re increasing output in a politically stable country, where other countries that have potential for increased production such as Nigeria, Kazakstan, Venezuela and certain middle eastern states are not politically stable. You ask the average person on the street in most countries and they probably don’t realize our increasing potential….but the international oil companies do and that’s why you see so many countries involved in the oil sands. We’re in for a great 2 or 3 decades…..unless someone figures out how to run cars on a gallon of sea water.
Nate said: “you grossly overestimate the amount of oil and gas that Alberta has”
Sure, we have the second largest reserve in the world, I indeed overestimate !!
Sure,if help-signs do not count, employment numbers do not count, income and GDP numbers do not count? so what counts? of course they do not count if you do not live here!!
I love to see real Albertans coming to this blog. I’m tired to debate with Yankees.
Comment removed see code of conduct
Brent said “Okay Mikey, enough of your Alberta is the greatest speel”
Sure Bro, and I’m proud of it. Alberta is the great and I do not care about what you think.
Hate to break it to you Ray but I think you bought at the top as far as Winnipeg is concerned. My bet is you’ll be in the same position a few years down the road.
Prices in Manitoba and Saskatchewan have already skyrocketed. Not much more room to be had there.
Nate,
Your link confirms what I said. We’re 7th in the world in production but growing fast. Likely to surpass China, Mexico and Iran in the next 4 or 5 years. Saudi Arabia and Iran produce more but are they politically stable, or would George Bush like to replace Iran with a smoking crater? There is also a link just below the chart to “Greatest oil reserves by country 2006″. Canada is #2 behind only Saudia Arabia, nuff said. For the record I don’t think
Alberta would be the richest in the world, but as my Dad would say “we’re doing O.K. thank you very much”.
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Investing in real estate without proper analysis and betting on rapid price increases may lead to trouble.
http://www.canada.com/theprovince/news/money/story.html?id=c25155d1-5ac9-42b7-827f-86d5817418cd
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Phoenix, Tucson, Miami, Las Vegas and more…very few investors should be considering the Canadian market at this time.
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Housing Price Index (HPI) would be a much better tool to describe R/E prices in Edmonton and Calgary.
http://www.realtylink.org/statistics/buyers_hpi_explained.cfm
One can only imagine the fun in arguing about the construction of such index.
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Robin,
I agree with you , like you i can not trust EREB datas, i try to study their datas and other market news ,as well the properties i am intrested, they dropped their prices @ 10 %.,since december 2007., its the only cause we didnt buy our house since octomber.
Ray, Out of curiousity, what economic fundemenatals support the hype in Winnipeg?
hey guys, I am looking for 3 bedrooms townhouse, someone offer 240K in southside 30 years age, do you think is it reasonable? I guess should be lower in current market. Any thoughts? Thanks
tax assessments are just out and people are going to be in for a shock. Property taxes are now based on July 07 market value, which means whopping increases across the board. I already had a call from a friend telling me to be prepared. His 2007 assessment on his Ritchie bungalow was 260K, for 2008 it is 470K!!!
This could have a serious effect on the entire housing market, including the rental market, as property owners are facing BIG tax increases this year!
Ken,
Large assessment does not mean large taxes. It is all relative based on mill rate. In a matter of fact, my taxes are decreased regardless that the assessment was very high. The city cannot collect more than a certain figure plus tax increase. Since everyone’s assessment is up and there are more homes in the city, the mill rate goes down; hence the tax on each property goes down.
Relax Ken, enjoy your home, do a barbeque, camp in the back yard, sit in the porch and sip champagne. Come 2011/2012, today’s prices would be bargain, mark my word.
“hey guys, I am looking for 3 bedrooms townhouse, someone offer 240K in southside 30 years age, do you think is it reasonable? I guess should be lower in current market.”
If this is what you can afford, then you go for it and make sure you get a home inspection done. If you can afford a free hold (single family home, duplex), then I would go for the free hold for sure. Hey,depending on where you work, have you considered buying in Leduc or Fort Saskatchewan?
thanks Mike, I will have a coffee this morning and relax..
I went online and my own assessment went from 190K to 342K in one year… I was thinking that I could be facing an 80% increase in the actual amount due on June 30!
Alberta has a lot of oil.
How are the Albertans benefited by the oil?
Suncor, Syncrude, Shell, etc., are making a lot of money.
A lot of foreigners are making a lot of money, and they will leave.
A lot of people here are making two times more than what they could make 5 yrs ago.
A lot of people here are paying two times (may be less for some items) more than what they have to pay for housing, foods, gas, etc.
A lot of population occurs in Alberta such as noise, green house gas, water, etc.
We have more traffic jams.
We need to spend more time for lining up at Superstore, Walmart, etc.
What does the oil bring to you?
What do we leave for our kids?
As a REAL Albertans, what do you feel? Should you think about your/your kids’ future?
I just want to tell you what I think. Please respect my thought and do not ask me to leave.
Thank you!
I wanted to say:
A lot of POLLUTION occurs in Alberta such as noise, green house gas, water, etc.
What are the alternatives, Dave?
When you’ve got oil underground, you have to take it out and sell it.
What else can you do?
Perhaps increase the royalty rates and put that money back into infrastructure and research grants for more sustainable resource extraction and development
Dave, I can’t agree with you more. The reality is that oil is getting scarce and the resources are too valuable to be left alone. We need to make sure that Albertans benefit from the boom to its fullest. This is why that it is very important that upgraders get built here in Alberta. It is very important that we fabricate all the structures here in Alberta. I feel really bad when I hear about a pipeline taking the bitumen down to create jobs in the US rather than Edmonton. All I want to say, if we resist the change, they will still get the oil out but they will send it down to Texas to be upgraded. Instead of resisting the change, we need to lobby to insure that the upgraders and the fabrications shops get built here so we secure long term high paying jobs.
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Mike,
Unfortunately due to the high cost environment in Alberta it is much cheaper for the oil companies to build the pipeline to Texas and utilize the existing labor force there at much lower wages. It always comes to the bottom line and the high inflation, high land and housing costs, high labor cost and higher taxes in Alberta are not exactly an attractive option for the producers.
As I have written many times before, the bitumen deposits cannot be moved, but pretty much everything else can. For this to change the cost of doing business in Alberta would have to become more competitive. The welders in Texas do not make 100k+ and the existing refineries can be modified to include upgraders at much lower price tag than building the new upgraders here.
I am starting to sound like a broken record repeating once again that the Alberta’s ‘boom’ has been mismanaged. The ‘gold rush’ approach with the lack of control over the expansion in the oilsands created this mess and also tarnished (for a good reason) the oilsands environmental image.
Can this be salvaged? It MUST be salvaged for the future of this province, but it will not come without pain.
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Just saw a house come on the market that appeared to have sold very quickly, last May, with an asking price of 830K.
Now it’s back at 819K, but it has new appliances, new paint, a new professionally finished basement, and new landscaping.
Unless it’s the same owner putting this house on the market again, someone is going to lose money on a flip !
I am the engineer who is working on one $2B project.
About 20% of money goes to Asia to buy raw materials and equipment.
About 30% of money goes to US to buy equipment.
Very tiny portion goes to Europe.
Very tiny portion goes to other provinces within Canada.
Again, how many cents go to you pocket?
US has a lot of oil, but they do not drill. Why?
If I just look at the outside of oil, it looks very beautiful (money, money, money)
If you look deeply, oil is bringing you a lot of problems to the society.
“Growing” is good, but “Growing too fast” is not good.
I still love my “10 years ago Edmonton”.
“Today Edmonton” is not the one I like.
Anyway, this is my own opinion.
Do not get it wrong.
I am making $140K because of oil. I love $$$ but I do not want my kids to grow up in a dirty (polluted) city.
I can move to the other city after few years (after earning enough) but I perfer to stay. It is because I still love this place.
“Perhaps increase the royalty rates and put that money back into infrastructure and research grants for more sustainable resource extraction and development” Kat, this is what I want to hear from all Alberta lovers.
“Instead of resisting the change, we need to lobby to insure that the upgraders and the fabrications shops get built here so we secure long term high paying jobs.” Mike, I agreed with you. We should do it but we are not doing it. A lot of foreigners will share our oil/money, and only real Albertans will stay here to clean up all the shxt.
“The Alberta’s ‘boom’ has been mismanaged” BAD, this is what I want to say. A lot of people in this blog keeps telling how good the oil is. Do they really see the problems from the oil boom?
Sheldon,
I know this topic here is not directly related to real estate market. As a responsible agent, you should love to your clients live in a heathly enviroment. Do you like to create the post related to this topice? Try to remind all Albertans to protect our Alberta.
I have to say that we need to make mandatory that the bitumen be upgraded here before taking it out. This is part of the value-add to the economy, we cannot become a province that get stripped out of its resources for a fraction of it.
Hey all, I’ve been coming to this site for a long time now, but I’ve never actually posted… seems like a few people saying alot of the same things.
Just wanted to say that my house (a starter home in Clareview) sold in April in about 8 or 10 days, for about 97% of asking price. It was priced competetively, and we made sure that when people saw it, it showed well. All of our renovations were done professionally. After looking at over 60 houses in Calgary before deciding on one to buy, I never really realized how important it was to do the ‘finishing touches’ and thorough cleaning/decluttering. Out of 60 houses that I’ve seen, I’d say that probably 50 of them were not in ‘show’ shape, with obvious homeowner renovations that were in alot of cases, incomplete, and over all lack of cleanliness. Personally, I think that most of the inventory right now that’s lagging on the market is people trying to ‘cash in quick’ on the economy who really don’t deserve to sell for market value. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with the market here, except that from an outside perspective it looks like ‘record inventory’. My experience has been that the market on quality, well priced properties is still very competitive.
Also wanted to say – Thanks Lisa! (and Sara and Sheldon).
Bad
Have your read “The New Royalty Framework Oct 25/2007.
“Value Added
The Alberta government recognizes that to build a stable and prosperous future,
the province must get the best economic return on the development of its energy
resources. Alberta needs to add value to its exports and expand its economy by
upgrading resources here in Alberta. By doing so, we will secure jobs and prosperity
for future generations of Albertans.
The Alberta Royalty Review Panel recommended an upgrader credit of 5% as
an incentive for industry to upgrade and refine in Alberta. Government analysis
indicates the 5% credit would be ineffective. The government will consider other
options, such as:
• taking bitumen in kind rather than cash. Bitumen could be used strategically to
supply potential upgraders and refineries in Alberta. The Crown would share in
potential gains (and risks) in the upgrading, refining and petrochemical markets,
and optimize its royalty share.
• advocating for adjusting pipeline toll differentials that currently may have an
effect of subsidizing bitumen exports.
• expediting conditional regulatory approvals for projects with value-added content,
while maintaining our strong environmental controls.”
http://www.energy.alberta.ca/Org/pdfs/royalty_Oct25.pdf
By those statements, I would say it looks like Alberta may be the place that will be doing most of the upgrading.
Not sure what this means, but I live in Beaumont and in the last week, 8 sold signs have went up on houses that have been for sale sense the fall of 2007.
roger,
They obviously lowered their prices to a level that would attract interest. IMO
very insightful conclusion Brent, since Beaumont is the bedroom community of Detroit, then owners really need to lower their price to get their homes within an affordable level for laid-off auto workers
Back to being serious, how did you know that they lowered their prices? do you have MLS listings with history? Evidence please.
Hmm, blogger Brent did not provide an evidence that the price for homes in Beaumont were reduced in order to sell. I guess it is part of responsible blogging is to provide accurate objective information supported by reliable data.
Mikey,
What else could it have been? You have housing that won’t sell in Edmonton after multiple price drops.
Beaumont? Ya right, the rush is on to live in Beaumont. To funny!
The Fort is a step up from Beaumont so you must be having total bidding wars out there to get into a house. LOL
On second thought, maybe the Fort isn’t a step up from Beaumont, I was thinking Bruderhiem or whatever that town of 50 people is called.