Fort Saskatchewan, ripple effect?

[nigelwray1982]

Hi everyone, could someone please explain how Fort Saskatchewan experiences the population growth that it has experienced in the last few years, but still has such high vacancy rates? Thank you.

 

[Thomas Beyer]

The upgrades that are planned will take years to build, but one is coming:



http://www.fortsaskatchewanrecord.com/2012/11/08/north-west-upgrader-gets-green-light



Vacancies are a function of supply vs. demand. Much housing was built in anticipation of various upgrades, but most upgraders were cancelled in the financial crisis or severely delayed.



NE Edmonton will benefit.

 

[mortgageman]

I have a half-duplex in Fort Saskatchewan that has been fully rented since it was bought from a builder in Nov 2007. The rent dropped by $100 in 2009 to $1695 and have remained steady. Military couples represented two of the three sets of tenants in that time. We are pet friendly so I think that has helped minimize vacancies. I think the total vacancy was 1 month. Our particular property is in a unique location in that it's in a very small crescent and there is no through traffic. A lot of the other streets in the area seem very busy and very overcrowded.

 

[ChrisDavies]

There was a lot of condo construction there which got pinched when the market crashed. There's one or two 200+ unit buildings which were turned back into apartments at the time. The major plants in the area have essentially decided to ensure their projects don't overlap causing the extreme labour crunch we saw in the boom. Personally I don't love Ft. Sask for the short-medium term. It'll take a lot of big projects to get things going there for smaller simpler rentals. I know some builders who are doing well with larger single family and I've brought buyers to a couple properties - nice quality of life, good properties, stiff competition.

 

[nigelwray1982]

Thanks guys