real housing price increases in Grande Prairie... when are they coming???

[sacleary]

I own a townhouse style condo in Grande Prairie, where the price has dropped from $240K in 2008 to about $180K, where it is now. Everyone talks about the highs and lows of GP, when it booms it booms, but I can't fathom the price for my condo ever getting back to where it was in 2007/2008, cause its been down around $160-$180K for a few years now...



Could you please share any thoughts you might have on this, when will condo prices come back???



Thanks in advance, any input or advice would be much appreciated,
Shawn

 

[Thomas Beyer]

Perhaps you paid too much to start with.

 

[sacleary]

this was the going price for similar condos, but yes, perhaps this was an overinflated price, sure.... but the question remains, when are condo prices coming back?

 

[invst4profit]

I doubt anyone can accurately predict when condo prices will return to the 2008 highs but I would conservatively predict it will be a very long time.

A "long time" being a relative term.

Give it 10 years and see what happens.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

Well, prices in Calgary and Edmonton are back to 2007 boom time levels, and my understanding is that GP has had similar rise in prices the last 2-3 years % wise. So therefore, not being an expert in GP, I can only conclude you paid too much in 2008. It is my understanding that houses are where they were around 6 years ago again in GP, so condos might be different. As you can see here http://creastats.crea.ca/gran/ house prices, on average, have climbed consistently since 2099.

 

[invst4profit]

I don't know about out west but in Ontario there was a lot of speculative buying of over priced condos that the owners rented out and now find they paid too much and can't sell into a flooded market. We have a lot of unintentional landlords locked into negative cash flow having major regrets.

 

[LAndersen]

I live in Grande Prairie and invest here as well in suited houses and a single family house. We have seen steady price increases the last 2 years with prices up last year between 8-10% on these types of properties. I don't really know the condo market here at all but house prices are almost back to where they were at their peak from a few years back. With little inventory on the market, we are steadily increasing rents and still not much available in our market. I know that there was a condo craze here a few years back but the thing of it is we aren't a condo market really. Most people drive trucks and need places to store their toys and that might have a bit to do with your lower valuations.

 

[RenManlolo]

I was also in the mix in 2008 when I bought my first rental property (SFH) at it's peak. The drop in value was indeed disheartening for a first time investor like me and owning it has also taught me many lessons. The value of it has been increasing since the start of the recovery but it's still not near what I bought it for. I do like that the rents have been steadily increasing and that the vacancy rate there is quite low.



Regards,



Ren