Vancouver condo developer says Calgary next big play
Downtown Calgary is the next big play for multi-family residential developers, according to Cameron McNeill, president of Mac Marketing Solutions, Vancouver`s market-leading condominium sales agent.
`It is a unique time in Calgary`s real estate history,` McNeill said. `There is a growth opportunity not only for real estate developers, but for industry service providers. There are just not enough skills and experience to satisfy the market.`
Fears of an office glut are increasing in Alberta`s capital as the City of Edmonton and developers bid to build more towers in a city where much of the new space remains dark.
The current vacancy rate in downtown Edmonton is around 8%, which is considered a `healthy` market, but analysts warn that if all the Class A space being planned proceeds, landlords would soon get a sinking feeling.
CALGARY - Calgary is one of the best regions in the country for job seekers, but not the best, says job search engine Adzuna.ca.
In its latest report, `Where are all the jobs?`, the search engine compares the number of job listings to that of jobseekers in each of the largest metropolitan census areas in the country.
Alberta leads Canada through next wave of construction
EDMONTON, Feb. 20, 2014 /CNW/ ` Alberta continues to lead Canada`s construction industry through the next decade, with major new oil sands projects and residential work driving job growth in virtually every year between now and 2023, according to BuildForce Canada.
The 2014-2023 Construction and Maintenance Looking Forward forecast released today by BuildForce Canada shows the pace of expansion has resumed, with construction employment across all markets growing past the 2008 peak by 2013.
New Alberta government website offers economic data all in one spot
EDMONTON - Businesses, immigrants and investors researching Alberta now have a one-stop website for facts and figures on the provincial economy.
The Alberta Economic Dashboard provides data updated nearly every day on 26 economic indicators specific to the Alberta economy from natural resource prices and employment rates to the number of active drilling rigs and corporate bankruptcies.
CALGARY - The short-term expectation for year-over-year MLS price growth for the existing home market in Calgary is one of the highest in Canada, according to a report released Monday by the Conference Board of Canada.
The board said Calgary housing prices in the short-term can expect to see annual growth in the range of five to 6.9 per cent as the city is in a seller`s market at this time.
Calgary and Edmonton have lowest vacancy rates in Canada
CALGARY - Despite the lowest residential vacancy rate in the country, the chairman and chief executive of Calgary-based Boardwalk Real Estate Investment Trust says there is an easing in the tightness of the market due to new construction of rental units and condominiums.
Sam Kolias said the easing has helped balance the market as it has shifted in favour of the tenant rather than the landlord.
As the unemployment rate slowly trickles down in the rest of the country, small-town Alberta is facing a labour shortage, says the province's new Minister of Jobs, Skills, Training and Labour.
Minister Thomas Lukaszuk visited town Feb. 13 to speak to the Hinton Business Support Network. The BSN is a group of local business owners who meet monthly to network and share information. Lukaszuk discussed the need to bring more Albertans into the trades as well as meeting immediate labour demands through the Foreign Worker Program.
The nation's governors emerged from a meeting with President Barack Obama on Monday claiming harmony, only to immediately break into an on-camera partisan feud in front of the West Wing.
Louisiana Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal lashed out first, saying if Obama were serious about growing the economy he would approve the Keystone XL pipeline project and take other executive actions.
Royal Dutch Shell has asked federal regulators to halt the environmental assessment for a proposed mine in northeastern Alberta, as part of a plan to re-evaluate the timing of developments.
`Shell has determined that it will need to adjust the development timing for PRM (Pierre River mine),` said Andrew Rosser, Shell Canada Energy vice president, heavy oil sustainable development and regulatory.
CALGARY - Calgary`s economy has strengthened considerably in the past few years with strong business and consumer confidence as the city is forecast to lead the country in Real GDP growth in 2014.
A report released Wednesday by the Conference Board of Canada said Calgary`s economy will grow by 3.7 per cent this year followed by Regina (3.5 per cent) and Edmonton (3.4 per cent).
California refineries take in record volumes of Canadian crude
California, the third-biggest refining state in the U.S., is about to see a flood of oil by rail from places such as Canada and North Dakota as suppliers seek to tap a market isolated from the rest of the country.
The western U.S. may bring 500,000 barrels of light oil by rail a day in 2015 as the region`s refiners seek to replace shrinking output in California and Alaska and more costly foreign imports, Mark Smith, Tesoro Corp.`s vice president of development, supply and logistics, said at a conference yesterday. California refineries can run 1.63 million barrels a day, the most in the U.S. after Texas and Louisiana, government data show.
Calgary poised to reach record highs for average home sale prices
CALGARY - A low inventory is continuing to drive resale housing prices upward with the city poised to set numerous all-time records from February MLS sales.
As the housing market comes to the end of another month, Calgary is on the verge of hitting new highs for average sale prices and median prices in both the overall city market and in the single-family sector.
Steady, but slower economic growth expected for Edmonton
EDMONTON - Edmonton`s high-octane economy won`t exactly sputter in 2014, but the foot is easing off the accelerator, according to a new forecast from the Conference Board of Canada.
Despite the slowing pace here, Edmonton, Calgary, Regina and Saskatoon will still lead Canadian metropolitan areas in economic growth this year, the not-for-profit research organization said Wednesday in its Metropolitan Outlook-Winter 2014 report.
Expansion plans in Alberta`s oilsands will almost double production capacity in the next decade, raising labour requirements by more than 40 per cent, according to BuildForce Canada`s latest forecast.
The labour market demand for the oilsands spans off-site prefabrication and modular construction, on-site construction, maintenance and sustaining capital work.
