Edmonton new house prices dropped almost one per cent in February, and are up 15 per cent over February 2007, Statistics Canada said Friday.
The departure of some migrants from Alberta meant that there were more resale houses on the market contributing to slower sales in the new housing sector, the agency said.
Edmonton prices declined 0.9 per cent from January, while Calgary declined 0.3 per cent.
World oil demand will rise much less than expected in 2008 because of slower economic growth in the United States and elsewhere, the International Energy Agency (IEA) said Friday.
The cut to demand growth is the IEA`s biggest since 2001 and follows the release of lower economic growth forecasts by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) this week, and the impact of high oil prices above $110 a barrel.
"The latest GDP projections from the IMF suggest less robust oil demand growth in the coming months," the IEA said. "This report projects April and May oil balances tipping towards a supply surplus."
Aggressive repayment methods can save thousands of dollars
Good intentions can fall by the wayside when new homeowners pledge to pay down the mortgage as quickly as possible. Unexpected expenses crop up -- and there are plenty of those in a new home -- and just the cost of living can derail many plans to become mortgage-free sooner.
But there are ways to drive down a mortgage. Available repayment methods can lop years off the amortization period and save thousands of dollars in the process.
Village at Griesbach preserves natural and military legacies
Homeowners in new developments often feel the inevitable growing pains of young, spindly vegetation. Houses stand out against a stark backdrop of newly graded and barren dirt.
At the Village at Griesbach in Edmonton`s northwest, however, Canada Lands Company has made a commitment to preserving the trees that already dot its landscape. As a former military base located in the area between 153rd Avenue, 97th Street, 137th Avenue and Castle Downs Road, the Village at Griesbach has preserved not only its beautiful trees, but also its military history.
Nova Chemicals` annual general meeting in Toronto on Thursday produced frequent and favourable mention of the company`s Alberta assets: its ethylene and polyethylene plants at Joffre.
CEO Jeffrey Lipton referred to those operations as the "crown jewel of our company," and credited them for helping carry Nova to record operating results in 2007.
The federal government has given the green light in the past year for more than 40,000 temporary foreign workers to come to Alberta -- setting the stage for a staggering 300 per cent jump from just three years ago.
The workers, being brought in to ease the massive labour shortage, would create a new city half the size of Red Deer if they all lived in one place.
Amid unease around the economic future in Canada`s heartland in Ontario and Quebec and anxiety about the United States` outlook, a raft of recent indicators paint a sharply contrasting picture for Alberta and Calgary.
Simply put: Alberta remains an island of prosperity in a roiling sea of economic uncertainty.
The Alberta Government is offering a $200 rebate on ecoENERGY evaluations on people`s homes.
This money is not available, however, until late in the process.
Before homeowners start renovating their home, they first need to have an evaluation done on their house, said Stephen Farrell, of VerdaTech,
This initial evaluation will probably take around two hours and then a professional, such as Farrell, will make recommendations that would best reduce energy consumption in that household. http://www.airdrieecho.com/News/391457.html
The RCMP polices in Camrose County and council made an inquiry into how they could request more officers.
Currently there are five full-time officers to serve the entire county.
Cpl. Jim Link, commanding officer for the Camrose detachment and Sgt. Gibson Glavin, planning and management for K Division met with council to discuss how the county can request more officers, April 8.
A warm winter resulted in a threefold increase of pine beetle infestations as pine beetle crews had to remove nearly 18,000 trees this year. That`s up from 6,000 trees last year.
Pine beetle crews have been working for months in an attempt to control the spread of pine beetles in the area, however the weather did not cooperate this year.
There are still two or three regions in the provincial parks in Kananaskis Country that need to finish their pine beetle work, which Alberta Parks biologist Steve Donelon said they hope to complete during the next few months.
Residents of the MD of Rocky View can learn about possible futures for commercial development in the MD through a presentation from an award-winning urban designer later this month.
The MD will host the session "Place-Making Through Design" at the Calgary Zoo on Wednesday, April 30, with the guest speech from urban planner Michael von Hausen of MVH Urban Planning and Design in Vancouver.
The speech is intended to cover potential new directions for development in rural areas, including how to integrate new developments with healthy ecosystems.
The housing market, financial statements, and the Marina Market were highlights of last week`s Cold Lake Regional Chamber of Commerce`s annual general meeting.
The meeting was March 31 at the Lakeland Inn.
Housing
Guest speaker Bernard Lefebvre, from Northern Lights Realty, told of the changes happening in the local real estate market.
He said there have been some noticeable changes from the sellers` market that Cold Lake experienced the past couple of years. He said to expect more For Sale signs and a surplus of houses for a longer time.
The deadline has passed for abutting landowners to submit their approval for a proposed project to pave 63rd Street, and according to Edson Mayor Greg Pasychny the vote so far is incredibly close.
Recently, the town offered to pay half the cost of paving the west end dirt road, if landowners with abutting frontage agreed to foot the rest of the bill.
As of last week, not all submissions had been received, and the town has a month to count the yeas and nays.
The MD of Fairview public meeting to discuss the proposed municipal development plan (MDP) came off the rails Thursday evening with residents telling MD council that the restrictions the plan puts on them are totally unreasonable.
There were close to 30 people in attendance, with Ian MacDonald chairing at the request of Reeve Walter Doll.
Former councillor Elden McLachlan pointed out the Municipal Government Act (MGA) makes no provision for having a public hearing chaired by someone from outside of council. He also said the MD might want to consult with their lawyer, as according to the MGA any councillor not present at the whole public hearing must abstain from voting on the matter discussed at that public meeting.
Construction will start soon on the first portion of a new waste water pipe that will allow new, denser development south of the Athabasca River, a municipal engineering official said.
Salem Abushawashi, general manager with the engineering department, said the pipe is in the final stages of design, with one portion already tendered to a contractor for construction.
Construction on the new Fort Saskatchewan Hospital has been delayed by more than a month.
In February, The Record was told by Capital Health that construction would begin at the end of March or early April, but now they say construction isn`t expected to begin until mid-May.
David Diamond, vice president of Capital Health, said they are tendering out construction in phases in order to keep the completion date within proximity of the original plan.
He said that by tendering out construction in phases, they will save a year in time. Completion is still expected in 2010.
The City of Grande Prairie must re-examine how it allows its resident to move about the city, as an aging population will put more demands on barrier-free access to public buildings, businesses, and even public sidewalks.
Ald. Gladys Blackmore said city building codes must meet – and even exceed – provincial standards in ensuring proper access for persons with limited mobility, which covers more than just persons with registered disabilities.
"I think it`s not just an issue for people with disabilities but for all people because we all, on a daily basis, have mobility issues," she said, following a public works committee meeting on Tuesday.
The Foothills School Division is still waiting for official confirmation that the new school in
Okotoks will be a public-private partnership (P3) school.
A news release announcing the new Westmount school was
released just prior to the March 3 provincial election, but as of last week, the board still hadn`t
received word from Alberta
Mayor Glenn Taylor and town staff warned that much of this year`s proposed capital spending will not go to "sexy" projects.
Rather, Hinton`s administration and council will be putting much of the $23 million in proposed capital spending on or underground.
Some of the more visible building projects will not go to sparkling new public showcases, but replacement or upgrades of aging facilities.
Rural Emergency Plan announced for Alberta landowners
There`s just something about the country. From forested areas housing a plethora of wildlife to the genteel hills of wheat or canola or barley, to the old barn of the family homestead, the country evokes an imagery of peace and quiet alien to urbanites. But life is a series of tradeoffs.
Although the rural life speaks volumes about the better things, what it falls very short of is the immediate amenities only found in the urban environment. And perhaps the most frightening is the availability of emergency services.
Logistically, being a rural fire chief or a police officer or an EMT creates a whole series of problems that dedicated men and women must face daily.
