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January 2014 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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Dealing with Alberta's boom





On Alberta`s new municipal affairs minister`s desk sits a proposed Calgary Metropolitan Plan, but a key issue to the region`s booming population remains up in the air, say city officials.








With ever-increasing droves living outside Calgary coming in to work using roads, transit and more, how does a city cover the cost to maintain and add to it?





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Calgary calls to make apartment recycling mandatory





Some Calgary renters are wary of potential rent hikes that could be spurred by city council calls to make apartment and condo recycling mandatory.








The city`s Utilities and Corporate Services committee on Wednesday will debate a new recycling strategy that would `require owners of multi-family buildings to arrange for on-site recycling facilities.`





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Alberta putting an end to the fee shock for new condo buyers





The Redford government is standing up for new condo buyers by making it mandatory for developers to be more transparent about condo fees.








After making a purchase, some condo buyers have been surprised to find significantly higher condo fees than what had been initially disclosed. The government is taking action to eliminate this problem by developing a plan that provides buyers with a standardized disclosure package, including an operating budget, at the time of purchase.







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Expect to see a dramatic shift in Calgary home market





If you have future plans to buy a new single-family home in a new community, you better plan to make it in the very near future.








The ratio of single-family homes to multi-family homes to be built down the road in Calgary will shift dramatically in favour of the multi-family units.





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Millenials to drive new home market





The Millennials are coming! The Millennials are coming!





Actually, they`re already here and they`re flexing their muscles, says Don Campbell, founding partner, senior analyst, the Real Estate Investment Network.





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U.S. Repbublicans turn up pressure on Obama over Keystone





Republican leaders in Congress are planning a legislative offensive to force the White House`s hand on the Keystone XL pipeline decision if the Obama administration does not declare its support for the project in the coming weeks.








Eric Cantor, the House Majority Leader, said Republicans are considering attaching a Keystone decision to a new law to raise the debt ceiling, which may be needed by the end of February for the U.S. to avoid another financial crisis.





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Alberta Industrial Heartland lures in $20B in projects





Five years ago his phone hardly ever rang, but these days Neil
Shelly is constantly dealing with companies looking to invest in Alberta`s
Industrial Heartland.





The tally for this year is impressive, with $20 billion worth of projects
already announced, said Shelly, executive director of the Alberta Industrial
Heartland Association, which includes Edmonton and four surrounding
municipalities.








He painted a picture of rapid growth in the years ahead thanks to expanding
oilsands operations and the worldclass shale gas deposits in the Duvernay
formation west of the city. `We are on the verge of an explosion of development.
Shale gas could be as big a resource to Alberta as the oilsands,` he said during
Thursday`s stakeholder update at the Expo Centre.





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Alberta's Industrial Heartland booming





EDMONTON - With oilsands production to double within the next 10 years, Alberta's Industrial Heartland Association is on the cusp of another boom.








At a stakeholder meeting Thursday, AIHA members heard that there is $21 billion worth of projects already in the works and more is on tap. AIHA is the co-operative effort of the counties of Lamont, Strathcona, Sturgeon, and the cities of Edmonton and Fort Saskatchewan.





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TransCanada pipelines set for 2017





The timeline and job creation due to the construction of two new TransCanada pipelines and a storage facility was discussed during a Strathcona County council meeting on Jan. 14.








The Grand Rapids pipeline project would have two pipelines: one to transport blended bitumen from northwest of Fort McMurray to the Edmonton area, and another to transport diluent from the Edmonton area back to the Fort McMurray area. The pipelines would have a 20-inch and 36-inch diameter respectively, and be approximately 470 km in length.





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Calgary luxury home market poised for another record year





CALGARY - Calgary`s luxury home resale market experienced a stunning record year in 2013 and a report released Tuesday suggests 2014 could see more of the same.








`With solid confidence in place, Calgary is expected to mirror 2013`s stellar performance, with the luxury market proving strong and steady,` said the RE/MAX Upper End Report. `Another record year is possible, particularly with the optimism that`s now building.`





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Loonie's swoon a mixed blessing for energy sector





With the Canadian dollar briefly swooning below 90 cents US last week, the fiery statements about a "petro-currency" being responsible for the challenges in the manufacturing sector have taken on a Proustian quality - remembrance of things past.





The layoffs announced in Ontario - by Heinz, Kellogg's and Kraft - were made as the dollar has fallen from parity in May 2013 to its lowest value against the U.S. greenback since 2009, when it averaged 88 cents US.





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Alberta to lead Canadian auto sales in 2014





Alberta and the Canadian Prairies are expected to drive vehicle sales in Canada to record sales this year, according to a new report by Scotiabank.








While every region saw higher sales last year ` including six provinces reporting record volumes ` economists believe Alberta will be the one to lead growth in Canada's auto industry in 2014. After a tough few years, the Global Auto Report is suggesting car manufacturers are on a roll.





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Calgary resale housing market gaining steam





CALGARY - The momentum in Calgary`s resale housing market continued to gain steam in January with increasing MLS sales and prices reaching record levels.








The hot city residential real estate market will register in January its 24th consecutive month of year-over-year average MLS price growth as well as the 10th consecutive month of year-over-year sales growth.








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Calgary's new condo sales rise near 2005 levels





CALGARY - Calgary`s new condo market was booming in 2013 with sales up by 30 per cent from the previous year and coming close to the peak of 2005 when prices were a lot less for a property.








A report by the Altus Group Limited says sales in the city reached 5,400 last year for new townhouse and apartment units. At its peak almost a decade ago, sales hit 5,900.





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Calgary new condo market booming





CALGARY - Calgary`s new condo market was booming in 2013 with sales up by 30 per cent from the previous year and coming close to the peak of 2005 when prices were a lot less for a property, particularly in inner-city neighbourhoods.








A report by the Altus Group Limited says sales in the city reached 5,400 last year for new townhouse and apartment units. At its peak almost a decade ago, sales in the market hit 5,900.





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Downtown Calgary street among most expensive for office rent





CALGARY - A downtown Calgary street has made it to the top 10 list of the most expensive streets in Canada for office rents.








The Jones Lang LaSalle third annual Most Expensive Streets for Office Space in Canada report, ranking the streets with the highest office rents in 2013, found Calgary`s 2nd Street S.W. (between 4th Avenue and 9th Avenue) as the third most expensive in the country at $59.72 per square foot behind Toronto`s Bay Street at $73.54 per square foot and Vancouver`s Burrard Street at $65.91 per square foot.





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Glenora luxury condo towers idled for financial restructuring





EDMONTON - Construction has halted on Glenora Skyline, a luxury condominium project at Stony Plain Road and 142nd Street, while the development company undertakes what it calls financial restructuring.








A lawsuit and several builder`s liens have also been filed against the project, which gained notoriety last summer when its president, Alex Davidoff, was allegedly kidnapped.





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Alberta's mandatory home warranty legislation takes effect on Feb. 1





EDMONTON - Sheldon Johnston has heard many horror stories of dream houses gone wrong, of gaps between dry wall and light fixtures, faulty windows, lousy wiring and worst of all, a hole in a new foundation that was not covered by warranty.








`Almost every situation we have where we`re dealing with new construction, and that`s a lot, we have an issue,` said Johnston, a broker and blogger for Liv Real Estate in Edmonton. `Part of that is (buyers have) been oversold or they did not understand that these are built by people. They`re building their dream home and they expect everything to be perfect, but the reality is somewhat different.`





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Fort McMurray million dollar houses complement oil boom





Alberta's oilsands hub is home to an oil boom and soaring real estate prices and has seen many luxurious, million dollar homes being built in recent years.








The oil and gas industry is also the number one contributor to an increase in Canada's economic output, according to recent numbers by Statistics Canada.








While Alberta is not the only oil and gas producing province in the country, it is the largest one, says Todd Hirsch, Chief Economist, ATB Financial in a blog post.





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