Alberta January 2013 Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Alberta leads country in growth sales leading up to Christmas




CALGARY ` Alberta led the country with the strongest retail sales growth during the fourth quarter of 2012, leading up to Christmas.




Moneris Solutions Corporation, Canada`s largest debit and credit card processor, reported Monday that Alberta`s growth in spending was 6.45 per cent compared with last year, followed closely by Newfoundland, at 6.42 per cent. Saskatchewan, Quebec and Ontario experienced moderate growth, with increases in spending of 4.35 per cent, 3.2 per cent and 2.66 per cent, respectively. Prince Edward Island showed the slowest growth in the country, ending the quarter with a 1.01 per cent increase in spending.





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[Ally]

Oils rises above $94 a barrel as U.S., China economic recoveries gain some traction




Oil prices rose above $94 on Monday, supported by signs of economic recovery in the U.S. and China.




Benchmark oil for February delivery was up 56 cents to $94.12 per barrel at midday Bangkok time in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract dropped 26 cents to finish at $93.56 a barrel in New York on Friday.





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[Ally]

LNG plans for Kitimat, B.C., turn doom town to boom town, says mayor




VICTORIA ` The sense of excitement in Kitimat is palpable, says Mayor Joanne Monaghan.




The northwest British Columbia town cited by Census Canada in March 2007 as the community with the greatest population decline in Canada now is looking at multi-billion-dollar investments in proposed liquefied natural gas projects, aluminum smelter upgrades and the Northern Gateway pipeline.





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[Ally]

Coal is coming back to the pass





Coal mining could be coming back to the Crowsnest Pass. Riversdale Resources Limited, a public entity based in Sydney, Australia, announced on Monday, January 5th, that it has entered into an agreement to acquire a portfolio of coal assets from Devon Energy and Consol Energy for $49.5 million U.S.





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[Ally]

B.C. home sales down in 2012




The B.C. Real Estate Association has released the figures on home sales for 2012.




The association reports about 67,000 home sales recorded by the Multiple Listing Service last year.




That's a drop of about 12 percent compared to 2011.





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[Ally]

Calgary best performing real estate market in Canada




CALGARY ` Calgary was the only major Canadian market to see a year-over-year rise in MLS residential sales in December as the national market plunged and the city finished 2012 with the best annual sales growth in the country, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association.




In releasing a report Tuesday, the association`s data indicated Calgary MLS sales in December of 1,343 were up 7.2 per cent from December 2011 while Canada saw a decline of 17.4 per cent to 20,538 sales.





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[Ally]

Calgary industrial real estate market sees vacancy rate rise




CALGARY ` Calgary`s industrial real estate market showed stability through 2012 with the overall vacancy rate finishing the year at 5.05 per cent, up slightly from 4.71 per cent in the fall, says Colliers International.




In a market report, the company said total absorption for 2012 exceeded the yearly average, up from 2,545,817 square feet in 2011 to 3,718,800 square feet in 2012. The vast majority of this absorption occurred early in the year, peaking in the third quarter with the completion of the 1.3 million square foot Target Distribution Centre in Balzac, said Colliers.





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[Ally]

Calgary trumps Toronto in real estate ranks





They beat us badly in the Grey Cup, but Calgary has displaced Toronto as the top ranked real estate city for 2013, according to the Emerging Trends in Real Estate 2013 report from Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) and the Urban Land Institute (ULI).




According to the report, it has become challenging to acquire high quality real estate in Calgary, absorption of prime properties has reached record levels and rents are being pushed due to limited supply, a trend expected to continue in 2013, especially in office and industrial employment space. Construction will increase in the housing and non-residential arenas, but nowhere near pre-crisis levels.





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[Ally]

Albertans optimistic about hiring plans





CALGARY ` Albertans are the most likely to say that their employer will be hiring more people in the coming year (52 per cent), and are among the most likely to say that they will be investing in training (55 per cent) and purchasing new equipment (55 per cent), says a new poll released Monday by BMO Bank of Montreal.







The poll said working Canadians overall are more optimistic than they were this time last year about employers` investments in the workplace.





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[Ally]

Calgary home sales year-over-year strongest in Canada






Calgary was the only major Canadian real estate market to close off 2012 with significant gains from 2011 baselines, statistical data released Tuesday show.




National housing numbers showed a 17.4 per cent drop in Canadian real estate sales on Dec. 2012, compared to the number of sales that took place during Dec. 2011, with Calgary being the only major market bucking the trend, the Canadian Real Estate Association found





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[Ally]

Bitumen prices should rise in 2014




EDMONTON - The extremely low price for bitumen, which is currently sapping Alberta government revenues, should rise in 2014, according to the former chief executive of Suncor Energy.




But the `serious` situation should remind Albertans about the dangers of having basically one customer for your product, Rick George said during the Edmonton Economic Development Corporation`s annual luncheon on Tuesday at the Shaw Conference Centre.





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[Ally]

In Canada's housing market, Calgary is a postive outlier









Calgary is a positive outlier when it comes to the housing market, but in many ways it is just playing catch-up. Canada`s housing market slumped in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis and then generally bounced back. But the recovery lagged in Calgary.




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[Ally]

The oil patch enters a new technological era




Dan Themig is in the vanguard of an energy revolution.




Mr. Themig is a founder and chief executive officer of Packers Plus Energy Services Ltd., a 12-year-old Calgary firm that is a leading innovator in the hydraulic fracturing techniques that sparked both a shale gas boom and a surge of production from tight oil fields across North America.



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[Ally]

International investment activity in Calgary commercial real estate market strong




CALGARY ` Calgary`s commercial real estate market garnered significant international investment activity in 2012, says Avison Young`s 2013 Canada, U.S. Forecast which was released Thursday.




`Market conditions are expected to remain favourable in 2013, with the commercial real estate sector continuing to benefit from growth in the energy industry,` added the report. `The Conference Board of Canada forecasts Calgary to lead the country in economic development with an average annual growth rate of 4.1 per cent for 2013 through 2016. Multi-residential and office buildings are anticipated to be the assets sought most by investors, while developers will focus on adding much needed space to the retail market.`





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[Ally]

Job ads outnumber job seekers in Calgary




Calgary - A new report examining online job ads has become the latest indicator of Calgary`s increasingly tight labour market.




The Conference Board of Canada`s Metro Help Wanted Index ` released Wednesday ` looks at the number of new, unduplicated jobs posted online across 79 job-posting websites. According to the data, the number of ads posted by Calgary employers increased by 6.7 per cent during the month of December.





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[Ally]

No quick fix for Canadian crude discount



CALGARY ` The blowout in price between Alberta`s heavy oil and the North American benchmark price is a `longer-term issue` with no quick fix, the head of the Alberta Investment Management Corp. said Thursday.





Oil sands producers have been whacked by a discount on heavy oil that has dropped at times to roughly $40 below West Texas intermediate, deepening concern that future projects will be put on hold.





The discount is not going away, said Leo de Bever, who manages $70-billion in assets as chief executive officer of AIMCo, as the Edmonton-based pension fund manager is known.





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[Ally]

Saskatchewan premier, U.S. governors push Obama for Keystone pipeline approval




REGINA`Saskatchewan Premier Brad Wall and 10 U.S. Republican governors are urging President Barack Obama to approve the Keystone XL pipeline.




The political leaders have sent a joint letter to Obama that says the pipeline is crucial for energy security and the future economic prosperity of both countries.





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[Ally]

Calgary takes spot as healthiest Canadian real estate market





The Canadian Real Estate Association released a report this past Tuesday, noting that the only major metro area to see an increase in MLS sales during this past December was Calgary. Nationwide things were an entirely different story with the markets taking deep dives in sales.







Calgary saw 1,343 sales go through the MLS system this past December, a 7.2 percent increase over sales during the same month in 2011. Nationwide, Canada experienced a decrease in sales of 17.4 percent with only 20,538 properties changing hands. Sales prices for the month also saw an increase in Calgary, with a 6.9 percent increase year over year and an average unit price of $419,811. Nationwide the increase was a more modest 1.6 percent and an average price point of $352,787.







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[Ally]

Leduc's growth shows no signs of stopping





It is a problem that might make most North American cities jealous. The city of Leduc says it is experiencing some extremely fast growth in recent years.







Leduc says it saw a near-record numbers of applications for building permits in 2012 and Mayor Greg Krischke says that comes as no surprise.





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[Ally]

Edmonton International Airport reports busiest year ever





EDMONTON - Edmonton International Airport had its busiest year ever in 2012, according to passenger statistics released Monday.







The number of overall passengers served at the airport grew last year by 6.4 per cent, or 400,000 people, to 6.68 million. The previous record was set at 6.5 million in 2008.





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