December 2012 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

St. Albert among top places to invest




St. Albert is one of the best places in Alberta to invest, according to a national real estate think tank.


The Canadian Real Estate Investment Network recently released a new report entitled Top Alberta



Investment Towns-Based on Key Economic Fundamentals, which found that St. Albert is poised to outperform other municipalities in the province over the next three to five years.




`If consistently low vacancies, high rents and strong property value increases located in a strategically situated city surrounded by a major job base is something you are looking for as an investor then St. Albert fits the bill,` reads the report`s executive summary.





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[Ally]

Alberta unemployment rate lowest in Canada



CALGARY ` There were more than 10,000 new jobs created in Alberta in November as the province`s unemployment rate dipped to the lowest in the country, according to Statistics Canada.





The federal agency reported Friday that employment in Alberta was up by 10,100 positions from the previous month, an increase of 0.5 per cent. Year-over-year, employment has risen by 1.8 per cent or 38,900 positions in Alberta.





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[Ally]

Calgary condo market stronger than all of 2011




The condo apartment and townhouse resale market is experiencing strong sales, says the Calgary Real

Estate Board`s monthly report on sales activity.




`Sales have been quite strong in the townhouse side, without a lot of additions to the inventory. That has made the market a little tighter,` says chief economist Ann-Marie Lurie of CREB.




Townhouses are a small portion of the overall Calgary market, she says.




In November, 1,006 detached single-family resale homes sold compared to 198 townhouses and 253 apartment condos.





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[Ally]

Slower pace of growth in 2013 forecast for Calgary resale housing market




The city`s resale housing market is expected to grow at a slower pace in 2013 than this year, the Calgary Real Estate Board said Tuesday in a preview of its annual forecast.




Sales growth in the city will slow to two per cent, as employment growth and migration levels are expected to ease in 2013, moderating the demand for housing, said Ann-Marie Lurie, CREB`s chief economist.




`With continued downward pressure on supply levels, balanced conditions will persist, allowing for further price recovery,` said Lurie, adding that prices are expected to increase by 2.9 per cent.





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[Ally]

Alberta economic boom shows no signs of slowdown




CALGARY ` Alberta`s economic boom is showing little sign of slowing down, according to the latest RBC Economics Provincial Outlook released Thursday.




RBC forecasts that Alberta will continue to be among the fastest-growing provincial economies in 2013 with a real GDP growth rate of 3.5 per cent, second only to Newfoundland & Labrador`s 4.4 per cent.




Alberta will regain the top spot in the country in 2014 with Real GDP growth forecast at 4.2 per cent.





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[Ally]

Edmonton set to roll lucky '13




EDMONTON - Edmonton`s regional economy is growing so fast, it might as well exist on another planet.




In a world filled with growing uncertainty, the local economy continues to cruise along, with no sign yet that it`s about to hit the wall.




As the politicians in Washington edge closer to the fiscal cliff and debt-saddled Europe braces for more pain, Edmonton`s regional GDP grew at a heady 4.5 per cent pace in 2012, after surpassing five per cent in 2011.





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[Ally]

Katz Group wants development near arena to start this spring




EDMONTON - If a downtown arena gets city approval, the Katz Group hopes to push ahead this spring with $2-billion worth of nearby development at the same time the new facility is being built.




Their plans include a 26-floor luxury hotel, two condos at least 35 storeys tall, two office towers reaching up to 32 storeys and six other buildings, along with an open-air plaza in the current parking lot on the south side of 104th Avenue.





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[Ally]

EnCana, PetroChina form $2 billion partnership




CALGARY - Encana Corp. (TSX:ECA) and a Chinese partner have agreed to explore and develop shale natural gas in Alberta together.




A subsidiary of state-owned PetroChina will invest $2.18 billion for a 49.9 per cent interest in about 180,000 hectares Encana has in the emerging Duvernay formation.





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[Ally]

Active year for Calgary commerical real estate industry




CALGARY ` The Calgary commercial real estate market has had an extremely active year in terms of both leasing and investment activity, says a report by CBRE.




`Demand from a dynamic oil industry and a lack of quality space have spurred new construction which could satisfy the strong demand for space,` said CBRE. `As global demand for natural resources continues to increase, Calgary is expected to be further transformed into an international market.`





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[Ally]

Calgary resale housing market to grow in 2013





The resale housing market in Calgary and surrounding areas is expected to grow at a slower pace in 2013 according to the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB).




CREB released a preview of its annual forecast on Tuesday, predicting sales growth in the city will ease to 2 per cent.





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[Ally]

Rosy economic forecast for Edmonton in 2013




It looks like Edmonton can expect 2013 to be another good one when it comes to economic growth.




The City's Chief Economist, John Rose, told Edmonton This Week on 630CHED that the jobless rate is expected to drop to around 3.8 or 3.9%, but that comes with it's own set of problems.





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[Ally]

B.C.'s LNG plans on same scale as oilsands




VICTORIA ` Premier Christy Clark says her government`s plan to export liquefied natural gas to Asia is British Columbia`s economic equivalent to Alberta`s oilsands.




In a year-end interview with The Canadian Press, Clark said B.C.`s LNG development ambitions will transform the economy, but the province must act quickly before the opportunity evaporates like gas into the atmosphere.





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[Ally]

Greater Vancouver developers go back to the land to build anew



VANCOUVER ` For a record sixth consecutive quarter, Greater Vancouver developers favoured buying land rather than purchasing properties saddled with single-use buildings ` a sign they find it easier to build their own, mixed-use structures rather than trying to upgrade outdated clunkers.




`Since the second quarter of 2011, land has made up the majority of the purchases, in terms of dollar volume, ranging between 51 and 59 per cent of the total,` says Paul Richter, national research manager of the real-estate information services company RealNethttp://http://emails.realnet.ca/web...ases/Q3_2012_GVA_Commercial_stats_release.pdf, which started tracking the market with quarterly reports in 1999.





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[Ally]

Alberta resale housing market tops Canada in annual sales growth




CALGARY ` Alberta will lead the country this year and in 2013 in the pace of growth in the resale housing market, according to a new forecast by the Canadian Real Estate Association.




The national association of realtors said Monday that Alberta MLS sales this year will finish up 13.1 per cent from last year to 60,800 transactions and sales will lead the country next year as well with 1.3 per cent growth to 61,600.





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[Ally]

Alberta economic boom shows no signs of slowdown




CALGARY ` Alberta`s economic boom is showing little sign of slowing down, according to the latest RBC Economics Provincial Outlook released Thursday.




RBC forecasts that Alberta will continue to be among the fastest-growing provincial economies in 2013 with a real GDP growth rate of 3.5 per cent, second only to Newfoundland & Labrador`s 4.4 per cent.




Alberta will regain the top spot in the country in 2014 with Real GDP growth forecast at 4.2 per cent.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Keyston's 'dilbit' problem




Drop the word `dilbit` in casual conversation and listeners might think you`re talking about the comic strip engineer who can`t get a date.




But dilbit actually stands for `diluted bitumen,` a heretofore obscure oil industry term that may soon be trending on your search engine as controversy deepens over the Keystone XL pipeline, a project to carry oil from the Alberta oilsands to refineries in Texas that has become the U.S.`s most contentious battle between conservative fossil fuel backers and liberal environmentalists.





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[Ally]

Why the west says 'never again'





Western resources are the stormy petrel of Canadian federalism. Resource policy in the West dominates today`s headlines. Should the Northern Gateway Pipeline, for example, be built through British Columbia to ship bitumen from the oil sands to China? And if so, what are the gains and losses for Alberta, British Columbia, Canada and aboriginal self-governments? Resources ` who has them, who controls them and who benefits from them ` is the subject of Mary Janigan`s entertaining and informative book.





Janigan documents that today`s resource debates started at the origin of Confederation itself and that for 60 years ` unlike the Maritimes, Quebec and Ontario ` Ottawa used the West`s land and resources as another form of national currency.





As with every colony that finally achieves freedom, western premiers are determined that never again will their resources be bartered away without their agreement. Memories of colonialism linger long ` ask Quebeckers ` and Janigan is certainly correct when she says, `Today, the edgy world of Riel and Haultain and the Gang of Three has not vanished. Their legacy lives in the residual memory.`





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[Ally]

One-industry towns taking hard hits




HANTSPORT ` Glenn Rogers appreciated his small-town life in the Maritimes. But the lure of big dollars in Alberta was too strong to resist after his employer of 18 years shut down.




`I didn`t really look outside the mill until I was given no choice,` says Rogers, who worked as an instrument technician at the Minas Basin Pulp and Power paper mill until Friday, when it closed.




The manufacturer of recycled paper products employed 135 people in Hantsport, a town of 1,160. About 40 of them were offered jobs at CKF Inc., a local paper and foam plate maker and the mill`s sister company.





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[Ally]

Investment in Canada's natural gas sector to rival oilsands




Canada`s natural gas sector could emerge as an investor magnet surpassing interest in the oil sands over the next two decades, The Conference Board of Canada forecasts show.




Natural gas could attract as much as $386-billion in investments by 2035 and create 3.2 million person-years of employment (or an average of 131,460 jobs annually), says the Conference Board of Canada in a new report. This compares to $364-billion investments expected in the oil sands and equal job growth during the period, according to an earlier Board study.







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[Ally]

Property sales drop, but prices stay steady




House sales may be plunging in many Canadian cities, but prices are still holding up as sellers retreat rather than opt for less.




Observers expect to learn that national sales dropped by about 12 per cent in November from a year earlier, when the Canadian Real Estate Association releases its monthly report, expected Monday.





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