EDMONTON REAL ESTATE @EdmontonRealty

After much speculation it seems North East Edmonton's Industrial Heartland is on the cusp of heating up again with the commencement of North West's Upgrader Mega Project. Each phase of the planned three-phase project is estimated to cost about $5 billion and create up to 8,000 jobs in construction, equipment supply and manufacturing. From a real estate investment prospective, the following comment bodes well for North Edmonton vacancy rates to tighten considerably: "...there will be no camps; workers will be moved in buses much as Shell did for its workers at the nearly completed Scotford Upgrader expansion project" Another tidbit is that BP Plc and Husky Energy Inc. agreed to start work building the first phase of the Sunrise Energy Project in northern Alberta. Slated to start in 2014, this will have many economic spinnoffs!! For those of you looking to capitalize on Edmonton's Winter buying season I would be glad to assist. Minus temperatures, combi...

It is no secret that Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney is concerned about a potential decline in home prices. However, cycles of declining home prices are far from unusual in Canada. In fact, there have been three during the past two decades, ranging from -6% to -12% at the national level, according to Stéfane Marion, chief economist and strategist at National Bank Financial. He points out that declines traditionally occur after a meaningful increase in interest rates pushes the buy-to-rent ratio to roughly 2.2. The ratio is again closing in on that level. “The higher leverage of Canadian households caused by the near doubling of home prices over the past decade makes them more vulnerable to a rise in mortgage rates,” Mr. Marion said in a research note. However, he insists that there is no need for the Bank of Canada to pursue aggressive rate hikes in the next 18 months. “This means that even if a correction is likely, current conditions do not herald a major decline,” the s...