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August 2010 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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Average home in Calgary sells for $451,807 on MLS

CALGARY - The average MLS sale price for single-family homes in the city for the past 30 days is $451,807, according to the Calgary Real Estate Board.

The board says there have been 908 properties sold during that period with a median price of $395,000. As of today, there are 5,430 active listings and 71 new listings were added in the past 24 hours.

At the end of July, the average MLS sale price for a single-family home was $464,655 with the median price at $400,000. The month-end inventory of homes for sale was 5,525.

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Ally

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Taking longer to sell home in Calgary: Website

CALGARY - It`s taking Calgarians longer now to sell their homes on the MLS market.

According to preliminary unofficial data on the website of realtor Mike Fotiou, of First Place Realty, so far this month up until Sunday the average days on the market for a single-family home to sell was 52 while it was 53 days for condominiums.

In August last year for the entire month, single-family homes were on the market for an average of 42 days prior to a sale while condos were averaging 47 days.

Last month, the days on the market were 45 for single-family homes and 51 for condos.

So far this month, the single-family home sale price on 401 transactions was $458,699. July had 915 sales for an average of $464,655 and August 2009 had 1,277 for an average of $454,130 for the entire months.

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Ally

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Rising foreign investment spurs uncertainty for natural gas

About a week ago I was unnerved along with several other drivers when a car accidentally started coming at us, driving the wrong way down the street. Horns started honking and mouths start cursing mostly because of the danger. But there`s also this uneasy feeling of disruption. The unexpected. Like others, I just assumed that traffic along that mindless road I drive every day flows only one way, my way.

When thinking about capital flow instead of traffic flow, a similar feeling of unease is settling on the North American natural gas industry. Unexpectedly, $17.2 billion of foreign investment is coming head on into the shale gas business, disrupting natural gas supply patterns in the United States and Canada, and pounding down prices on top of it all.

North America`s oil and gas business dates back 150 years ago when the first oil wells were spudded in Southern Ontario and Pennsylvania. Investment capital for exploration was mostly localized until the early 20th century when American multinationals like Gulf and Texaco really started to ramp up their capital spending abroad to secure access to strategic foreign oil assets, notably in the Middle East. Setting aside a lengthy discussion on geopolitics and corporate expansionism, the main point to consider is that for the last century, North America`s oil and gas industry has been conditioned into watching investment capital flow outbound, not in.

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Ally

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Demand for Alberta forest products rising

EDMONTON — Alberta forest product sales jumped 36 per cent to $594 million in the second quarter from the same period in 2009 as the economic recovery raised demand.

But the Alberta Forest Products Association warned that prices for lumber fell after a strong April and May.

"We`re cautiously optimistic about the future," said Brady Whittaker, AFPA president and CEO, in a news release. "Prices have declined in the last couple of months, but the stronger year-to-year demand points to a recovery of the industry."

Lumber sales brought $196 million into industry coffers, up 47 per cent from last year. Shipments rose nine per cent to 727 million board feet. Panelboard operators took in $95.5 million, up 72 per cent, with production of 294 million square feet, a 14 per cent increase.

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Alberta`s $4.7B deficit budget remains unstable

EDMONTON — Alberta`s fiscal position remains largely unchanged from the spring budget, when the province projected a record $4.7-billion deficit, government sources said Tuesday.

Finance Minister Ted Morton is expected to deliver the news today when he unveils the government`s first-quarter fiscal update.

Such updates are often marked by wild swings in revenue, depending on oil and gas prices and the value of the Canadian dollar.

In June, Morton and Treasury Board president Lloyd Snelgrove pegged the 2009-2010 deficit at $1 billion -- or one-quarter of what was originally predicted -- because of soaring bitumen prices and bigger investment returns.

But Snelgrove warned at the time that the news didn`t mean changes in this year`s deficit or spending levels. "I don`t see a change in our philosophy going forward, regardless of how much is in the sustainability fund," he said. Both oil prices and natural gas prices are down slightly from predictions made at budget time.

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Ally

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Real Estate Investors descend on St. Albert

Seven busloads of real estate investors swooped through St. Albert Friday to check out the city that recently ranked seventh in the country as a place to invest.

The tour, and the ranking, were both courtesy of the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN), a business that helps people invest in real estate.

The tour had 375 people, including 60 per cent from outside of Alberta, said REIN president Don Campbell.

Many on the tour are investors in residential rental properties. The tour allows investors to see the places that appear in REIN`s reports and meet realtors and civic leaders, Campbell said.

"It makes it real for them instead of theory in a book," he said.

St. Albert is on the tour because the economic fundamentals are showing it has great potential for growth, Campbell said.

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