May 2012 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Luxury home sales booming in Calgary





CALGARY ` Growing confidence in Calgary`s residential housing market has spilled over into luxury properties with first-quarter sales over the $1-million price point, the best on record since 2007, says a report released Wednesday by Re/Max.




The Upper-End Market Trends 2012 report said 115 homes changed hands in the first quarter, up from 106 during the same period in 2011, 67 in 2010, 35 in 2009, and 86 in 2008.






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[Ally]

Airdrie housing market booming





CALGARY ` The City of Airdrie, just north of Calgary, is experiencing a housing market boom these days.




From new home construction to resales, activity has taken an upward swing this year.




`The housing market in Airdrie is hot,` said Curt Woodhall, vice-president of sales and marketing for Vesta Properties, the developer and builder of the new Williamstown project in northwest Airdrie. `Vesta builds in a number of communities in Alberta and British Columbia and the Airdrie market in particular is very robust.`






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[Ally]

Calgary's northern limits target of retail growth





The amount of real estate development within Calgary and just north of the city limits is quite amazing - particularly in the area east of CrossIron Mills shopping centre.




The shopping centre has done well since it opened in 2009, now boasting 200 stores made much more accessible since the opening of Stoney Trail.




Since then, more shopping opportunities are available at Costco and Lowe's to the north of the original centre up to the intersection of the north/ south major corridor and Highway 566 at Balzac.






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[Ally]

Manufacturing sales in Alberta on upward trend





CALGARY ` Alberta experienced the second highest year-over-year growth in manufacturing sales in March, according to Statistics Canada.




The federal agency reported Wednesday that sales in the province rose by 13.0 per cent from March 2011 to $6.4 billion. That was also an increase of 0.5 per cent from the previous month.




The highest annual growth rate in the country was 13.2 per cent in New Brunswick.






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[Ally]

Alberta home sales climb higher in April



Residential sales reported through the MLSÂ System of the Central Alberta REALTORSÂ Association had their best performance in almost four years in April 2012.





According to statistics provided by the Board, home sales numbered 444 units in April, up 43 per cent from April 2011. This marked the best month of April since 2008. On a seasonally adjusted basis, it was the best performance of any month since August 2008.



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[Ally]

If Mitt Romney is elected, Keystone XL will be approved on first day in White House




WASHINGTON ` Mitt Romney is vowing to approve TransCanada`s Keystone XL pipeline on his first day on the job if elected U.S. president in November.




In a campaign ad unveiled on Friday, the presumptive Republican nominee asks voters to imagine Day 1 of his presidency, and lists Keystone as a top priority.





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[Ally]

Calgary house prices flirting with record level




There`s still about two weeks left this month but so far the average MLS sale price of a single-family home in Calgary is threatening to break the all-time record.




The peak level was set at $505,920 in July 2007 during the heat of housing market activity.




According to statistics by the Calgary Real Estate Board, between May 1-17 this year, the average sale price of a single-family home in the city was $508,299 ` that`s up 2.96 per cent from $493,682 for the same period a year ago.





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[Ally]

Alberta and Calgary have lowest inflation rates in Canada




Alberta and the Calgary region had the lowest rates of inflation in the country in April, according to Statistics Canada.







The federal agency reported Friday that consumer prices rose by 0.8 per cent in the province in the 12 months to April compared with a national hike of 2.0 per cent.







Prices were up 0.9 per cent in the Calgary census metropolitan area.





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[Ally]

Thomas Mulcair to discuss the oil sands in Alberta visit




EDMONTON ` Federal NDP Leader Thomas Mulcair is coming to Alberta to discuss the oil sands, but it isn`t clear if he will tour the development that he says is killing manufacturing jobs in Central Canada.




Mulcair`s comments about the oil sands driving up the value of the Canadian dollar and killing jobs have angered Alberta Premier Alison Redford.





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[Ally]

Imperial Oil's Kearl output will push prices down, analyst says




EDMONTON ` Alberta`s heavy crude prices are set to fall later this year when Imperial Oil begins producing 110,000 barrels per day of bitumen at its Kearl oilsands project north of Fort McMurray.




`There is really no market for it until BP`s Whiting refinery expansion (near Chicago) opens in mid-2013,` Bank of Montreal oil and gas analyst Randy Ollenberger said Friday.




The BP refinery is being modified to handle the heavy crude from the oilsands, and was supposed to open in late 2012 in lockstep with the Kearl production. But such refinery delays and pipeline bottlenecks are the reason for the volatility of the price of Alberta`s Western Canadian Select crude compared with the benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude.





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[Ally]

Unhappy Alberta investors fail to turf former pastor as head of troubled real estate companies





Disgruntled investors in a group of troubled real estate companies failed in their legal bid to have the man at the centre of the cash-strapped developments turfed.




But a judge did give a court-appointed monitor greater powers to restructure the insolvent firms - Legacy Communities, Airdrie Capital, Airdrie Country Estates, Railside Capital and Foundation Place - and maximize recoveries of the $92.9 million raised by former pastor Ron Aitkens and his firms at the height of Alberta's real estate boom.




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[Ally]

Foreign workers 'will hurt' Alberta employees, labour leader says





CALGARY ` Overreliance on temporary foreign workers to remedy Alberta`s labour shortages will hurt both domestic and imported workforces, local labour and immigration organizations said.




The federal government introduced several changes to its temporary foreign worker program last month, including measures that would allow employers to pay wages up to 15 per cent below the average in their region. Demand for workers as industries in Alberta continue to expand should lead to higher wages, but the province`s largest union organization said the federal government`s moves will do the opposite.






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[Ally]

Calgary businesses in an expansionist mood





Feeling mostly upbeat about the economy, Calgary businesses say they intend to expand while hiring additional staff this year.




Their one key worry: where they'll find those new workers.




Access to skilled labour, Calgary's cost of living and the cost of doing business were cited as factors that could constrain growth in a new Calgary Economic Development outlook.






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[Ally]

Calgary housing market activity strong



Three weeks into this month and activity in Calgary`s housing market continues to outpace last year.





According to the Calgary Real Estate Board, total MLS sales in the city from May 1-21 are 1,601, up 23.82 per cent compared with the same period a year ago and average sale prices have increased by 3.24 per cent to $446,634.





Activity has been strong in all home categories.





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[Ally]

Plot thickens as oil, gas wrestle for spotlight




Think of the oil and gas markets as a two-person play in which the actors have suddenly swapped costumes.




Over the past four weeks, the price of West Texas Intermediate, the North American benchmark oil price, has declined 15 per cent. But in a remarkable plot twist, natural gas (at Henry hub) has gained 42 per cent. The latter has donned a set of bull horns it hasn`t worn in more than a year, while oil is now clad in brown fur.





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[Ally]

10 things you probably didn't know about the oil patch




There is little doubt that Canada`s energy industry is in the midst of great change. But what will the oil patch look like in coming years? Streetwise sat down with a PwC-organized panel of bright minds in Calgary to find out. Here are a few of their ideas.




1. TransCanada Corp`s TRP-T Keystone XL may be a necessary link for bringing Canadian crude to the Gulf Coast. But it`s not likely going to feed energy appetites in the U.S., where gasoline demand is shrinking. That`s a controversial notion among environmental groups. But it`s reality, says David Goldwyn, president of Goldwyn Global Strategies, LLC. The `future for Canadian heavy is probably going to be as it`s converted into refined product and exported,` he says, pointing to burgeoning shipments of refined products to Latin America. `All this capacity is going to be for export.`





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Calgary housing starts up from last year





CALGARY ` The Calgary census metropolitan area has recorded one of the biggest year-over-year increases in housing starts across the country, according to the Conference Board of Canada.




In a report of 27 CMAs released Monday, the board said the Calgary region`s seasonally-adjusted annual rate of starts in April was 20,426, up from 6,667 in April 2011.






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[Ally]

April housing starts near 'boom' levels





Calgary home builders maintained a frantic pace last month as April housing starts rivalled the boom of four years ago.




Preliminary figures released Tuesday by Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., put April housing starts in the Calgary census metropolitan area at 1,708 units in April, up from 556 units in the same month last year.




CMHC said 557 single detached units broke ground in April, up 33.3 per cent from 418 units the previous year, while multi-family starts rose more than 700 per cent, to 1,151 units, from April 2011.






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[Ally]

Alberta EI recipients decrease most in Canada





CALGARY ` Alberta led the country in March with the steepest year-over-year decline in the number of people receiving regular Employment Insurance benefits.




Statistics Canada reported Thursday that regular EI recipients in the province fell to 26,900 during the month, down 12,060 people or 31.0 per cent from March 2011. On a monthly basis, regular EI recipients fell by 800 people or 2.9 per cent.






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[Ally]

Worker strike at CPR halts crude oil transport





CALGARY ` Until recently, labour unrest at a railroad would not have warranted much attention from the Canadian oilpatch.




But with a growing number of energy firms transporting volumes of crude by rail to market, a union strike that halted Canadian Pacific Railway Ltd.`s freight late Tuesday night also idled movement of thousands of barrels of oil and caused a few producers to start drafting alternative arrangements.






Read the full article here.