AB Economic Fundamentals 2008-09

[joeiannuzzi]

0908REDR
Area gaining two new bank branches

Local banking options are increasing by two, with the opening of new bank branches yesterday and next Tuesday.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...k_branches.html

 

[Bill]

QUOTE (joeiannuzzi @ Sep 3 2008, 11:37 AM) 0908CALG
Rooming houses fly under radar

It`s a colourful old house in Mission, a bright blue wave mural covering its facade.

But it`s inside where the real wave hits your nostrils as longtime tenant Gordon Grant opens one of two unused and unplugged fridges speckled with green-black mould.

Directly above, the smoke detector is open, without a battery. Further inside, padlocked doors section off suites in what some of the eight residents dub a rooming house.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...b7-950c3521592b

The problem with most of these properties is the landlords do not take care of them. If you upgrade them properly, create the right environment (with the right rules) you can create a nice little niche that can also be profitable.

 

[DonCampbell]

A Nice Un-Biased Take on the Future of Edmonton`s economy from a major U.S. based research firm


Edmonton City Ranks No. 1 for New Projects
U.S. Magazine Rates Development Sites

Bill Mah, The Edmonton Journal
http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...5b-40a05d6de649


EDMONTON - A U.S. business magazine ranks Edmonton as Canada`s top metropolitan area for attracting economic development projects.

The Edmonton region leads Canadian metro areas in corporate facility development, Site Selection (www.siteselection.com) said in its September edition.

The rankings are based on a tally of new private-sector projects and expansions which cost $1 million or more in capital investment or created at least 50 new jobs or involved new construction of at least 20,000 square feet.


Based on data from June 2007 to May 2008, greater Edmonton attracted 28 such projects. Quebec City was second at 26, followed by Montreal, 23; Wood Buffalo, 20; Toronto, 17; Halifax, 12; Calgary and London at 10 and Vancouver, Kitchener and Saskatoon at eight.

Read More...

 

[Mauro]

0908EDTN

Edmonton House prices for August 2008

The average price of a Single Family Dwelling in Aug 2008 of $369K is:
- down $10K from the July 2008 price of $379K
- down 8.7% from the August 2007 price $426K
- down 13.4% from the peak price of $426K in May 2007

Houses appear to be "on sale", nice time to buy.

http://www.ereb.com/MarketActivity/September.html

 

[GarthChapman]

QUOTE (Mauro @ Sep 3 2008, 10:11 PM) 0908EDTN

Edmonton House prices for August 2008

The average price of a Single Family Dwelling in Aug 2008 of $369K is:
- down $10K from the July 2008 price of $379K
- down 8.7% from the August 2007 price $426K
- down 13.4% from the peak price of $426K in May 2007

Houses appear to be "on sale", nice time to buy.

http://www.ereb.com/MarketActivity/September.html


Mauro, you are right about there being "a sale on now", but do remember that average prices can be misleading - a small swing in the number of high priced sales can skew the numbers one way or the other. Refer instead to the median price for a better portrayal of what the market is doing.

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908ALTA
Superbug infestation killing bees: province

EDMONTON - A pesticide-resistant superbug -- not so-called Colony Collapse Disorder -- was responsible for two years of devastating winterkill among Alberta`s bee colonies, Alberta Agriculture says.

A large infestation of the varroa mite caused about a 30-per-cent loss across the province each of the last two winters and a further 14 per cent were severely weakened, even though the province`s 112 commercial beekeepers treated their hives for the pest, said Paul Laflamme, pest-management branch head.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...f1-7fee8c9c005b

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908EDTN
Call for more flights at City Centre Airport

EDMONTON - The first phase of the debate over the future of the City Centre Airport wound up Wednesday with further calls to expand service and allow larger scheduled flights.

But Mayor Stephen Mandel said the city is only looking at two options -- keeping the facility as it is or shutting it down.

"At some point, we have to say as a council whether we want to maintain the status quo or look at closing the airport."

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...ea-a18d40f694f1

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908EDTN
Home sales spike as prices sag

EDMONTON - Edmonton home sales surged in August by 18.6 per cent over the same month last year as the average price of a single-family detached house fell to its lowest level in 18 months, monthly statistics released Wednesday show.

Marc Perras, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton, said the figures confirm what he`s experienced in his own real estate office.

http://www.canada.com/edmontonjournal/news...d5-52694f09b679

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908ALTA
Royalties furor hit Tory coffers

The Stelmach Tories spent a record $3 million on their landslide election win in March, but the party struggled to rake in donations from an oil and gas industry steaming over royalty hikes.

The PC party, which has governed Alberta since 1971, raised $580,000 in 28 days, $67,000 more than the fledgling Wild- rose Alliance, according to campaign financial statements disclosed Wednesday by Elections Alberta.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...6a-2acdadd302fb

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908ALTA
Saskatchewan, Alberta cabinets meet next week

Alberta and Saskatchewan will hold their first joint cabinet meeting next week in Lloydminster, a town about 250 kilometres east of Edmonton that straddles the border of the two provinces.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach`s office says the meeting will focus on energy and environmental issues and how the provinces can share technological best practices.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...c6-5775f14233c2

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908ALTA
Alberta to study water rights

The provincial government will begin public consultations to decide whether it needs to change the way Alberta`s water rights are divvied up, the environment minister says.

"The water allocation system that we have in place needs to be reviewed," said Rob Renner, who added that the public review will come within 18 months.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/s...5b-a5fd4289ab74

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908CALG
U of C veterinary college welcomes inaugural class

The University of Calgary`s new veterinary school has experienced, as they say in the trade, a difficult birth, the kind that requires full-length rubber gloves over arms placed where Mother Nature never intended them to go.

Funding shortfalls, construction delays, the resignation of an interim dean and criticism that it should not even be built in Calgary in the first place were among the challenges the vet college faced in the past three years.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...e4-f7a9f3ee244f

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908CALG
Staff shortage, hospital waits plague EMS

Calgary EMS is still struggling to find enough staff, while continuing to spend twice as much time in hospital hallways as it would like.

Chief Tom Sampson said paramedics are spending about 30,000 hours a year waiting at hospitals -- which costs the service about $2 million a year.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...27-ae541cb03a09

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908CALG
Suburbs stretch fire crew response times

The Calgary Fire Department is taking longer to respond to calls in some areas of the city as new communities sprout farther from stations.

At the same time, those newer areas where existing stations are stretched to respond are the same communities seeing an increasing number of calls.

"We are reaching the target less often," Chief Bruce Burrell said. "We`re having more calls that are beyond what would be the normal operating zone for those stations.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...d5-5c7e75412701

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908ALTA
Alberta oil, gas land sales double

Fifteen successful bids of more than $1 million each powered the first Alberta oil and gas properties land sale of September to a total of $58.6 million.

That`s more than double the corresponding sale of a year earlier, which brought in just $21.7 million, according to numbers posted Wednesday on the Alberta Energy website.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...8a-d8c354b7b486

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908CALG
Upgrades bring park up to snuff

One of Calgary`s oldest parks, Centenary Park, is getting a bit of a facelift this summer.

Commuters and joggers may have noticed the construction just west of the Calgary Zoo: ripped up turf, roped off areas and freshly felled trees. All of this is an effort to encourage more recreational use of a park that has become overgrown and somewhat neglected in the recent past.

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/n...c6-25667e8cd52b

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908CALG
Plan to revamp Herald block

One of North America`s leading commercial real estate companies has plans to potentially build an office tower up to about 50 storeys in the city`s downtown on the old Calgary Herald block.

Brookfield Properties Corp. is in the pre-development stage of the project, which it describes as a "66,000-square-foot development site with 1.2 million square feet of buildable density."

http://www.canada.com/calgaryherald/news/c...e9-5d1fa8234aac

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908ALTA
High costs squeeze oil sands

CALGARY - As oil backpedalled again yesterday to a five-month low, oil sands projects are getting increasingly squeezed as soaring costs boost the break-even price.

A new report found the break-even oil price required by new mining projects in the oil sands has jumped to $85 a barrel, an increase of $20 or 31% in barely more than a year.

http://www.nationalpost.com/todays_paper/s....html?id=770538

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908REDR
Scott Block on sales block

A downtown hub for arts and culture will be sold because the operators are struggling with increased costs and fewer tenants than expected.

In 2005, nonprofit group Culture Link bought the historic Scott Block building, with the intention of developing it into a community arts and culture centre. Various artists, such as Primestock Theatre and the Downtown Business Association, rent space in the Gaetz Avenue building.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ales_block.html

 

[joeiannuzzi]

0908REDR
Sobey`s opens in Ryder`s Ridge

SYLVAN LAKE — Gary Kerr was among the many people manoeuvring for space in the crowded aisles of Sylvan Lake`s newest grocery store on Thursday.

The president of operations with Sobeys Inc. is optimistic the store will continue to attract shoppers — despite competition from longtime downtown retailer Cobbs AG Foods, Extra Foods in Hewlett Park Landing and a new Wal-Mart Supercentre in Beju Industrial Park.

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradv...ders_Ridge.html