"...in some cities, home prices are still reasonable, and buoyant economies mean prices are destined to rise higher. What you need is a system that can consistently spot good places to buy real estate—in good or bad economic times."
Money Sense Magazine put together a list of Canadian cities where real estate is still a "good buy" and Edmonton made the list. The list includes cities where real estate is still affordable, and income levels and job prospects are high and rising. According to the authors these are the cities that will see price appreciation in the years to come, and are most likely to withstand any downward movement in national housing prices (a.k.a. Toronto and Vancouver).
The brightest real estate treasures are hiding in small and mid-sized towns across Canada, where rock-bottom house prices combine with strong local economies to make buying real estate there an attractive bet.
This year Edmonton and Thunder Bay were the only new additions to the list which also included Regina, Fredericton, Winnipeg, Moncton and St. John's. Edmonton was recognized for it's booming economy and affordable housing. The population is growing, attracting tons of immigrants (the fourth highest in the country after Calgary, Barrie and Oshawa) due mainly to our very low unemployment rate.
It’s not surprising then that Edmonton earned its highest points for its economy, with a stellar grade of A+ in that category. Only Calgary and Victoria were able to achieve the same grade for economy. Edmonton also earned a solid B+ in value, with the average home costing $336,000, about $75,000 less than a similar home in Calgary.
The Conference Board of Canada projects Edmonton's economy will grow by 3.4% this year, lead by the manufacturing and service sectors.
Despite the apparent focus on oil and gas, Edmonton’s economy is one of the most diverse in Canada. It boasts major employers such as IBM, Telus and General Electric, as well as a growing biotech sector. Home to the Edmonton Oilers hockey team, the Edmonton Eskimos football team and FC Edmonton soccer, it’s a sports lover’s dream that’s bound to keep people moving to the city for years to come.
About Sara MacLennan
Sara MacLennan is the Director of Marketing at Liv Real Estate and a licensed Real Estate Associate. The bulk of Sara’s experience and wealth of expertise lies in on-line technology and marketing both for agents and consumers. Sara is the former National Director for Interactive Marketing for Coldwell Banker Canada where she was responsible for an extensive training program traveling to offices across the country training agents and brokers on marketing and technology. Find Sara on Twitter @edmontonblogger.
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The data is useful for most Canadian cities, except Vancouver and Toronto.
The price/income ratio is high in those two cities, simply because there are a lot of new immigrant buyers who made their fortunes elsewhere and doesn’t have any income in Canada. Essentially, the set of property buyer/owner is very different from the set of income tax payer there (in money terms, not head count). So you can’t just bluntly use a division.
As for Edmonton, I agree that it’s way too cheap, given the context. I am about to purchase a building lot in the next several weeks.
It will be even cheaper next year… back to 25y mortgage starting in the next months, few more points for the interest by next summer and everything is back to normal…
You could be a billionaire by next summer, if you put your money where your mouth is (i.e. short sell the hell out of Canadian bonds).
I am a;ready, I don’t need to wait for the next summer:)
Edmonton way to cheap??? Are you kidding??? As a born and bred Edmontonian, that’s hillarious.
This just in, amortization length dropped from 30 years to maximum 25 years by thr Feds. They are finally catching on that paying almost 400k for an Edmonton house that is only worth at most half that amount is a good way to bankrupt a generation. The prices in Vancouver, Toronto and even Calgary are in the absurd zone. Edmonton’s prices are only in the ridiculous zone.
House prices will be even more reasonable in these cities one year from now, once the effects of today’s tightening of mortgage rules kick in.
One thing Money Magazine forgot to mention about Edmonton is our world class pile of shiny balls that we got for the rock bottom price of $600,000. What a bargain that was.
I don’t care if prices go up or down. All I care about is that people are buying and selling.
The mortgage qualifier changes beginning July 9 2012 according to the news, will make it easier for sellers, separating the wheat from the chafe. We go back to the good old days of actually planning ahead of time before purchasing a property
Once the American election is over this fall commodities will head for a freefall with copper falling back to the one dollar level and palladium falling back to the one hundred dollar level. Oil will fall to around the 30 dollar U.S. area. It would happen already but America is suppressing the truth until after the election is over. How will this affect Alberta real estate? Likely around a 50 percent fall from present day values.