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March 2013 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

Ally

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Calgary repeat home sale prices on the decline





CALGARY ` Prices for repeat home sales in Calgary have dropped for the third consecutive month, according to the Teranet-National Bank National Composite House Price Index released Wednesday.




The index said prices in Calgary were down 1.2 per cent in February from January.




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Halliburton shuts Medicine Hat services base




CALGARY ` Long-depressed prices for natural gas hit home in Medicine Hat ` nicknamed The Gas City ` on Monday as Halliburton Canada told employees it will be closing its oilfield services facility there in late April.




The 200 or so employees will be relocated, spokesman Susie McMichael said in an e-mail, with most being transferred to Regina, Sask. None will be laid off.





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Calgary ranked top Canadian city in which to live



CALGARY ` Calgary has overtaken Ottawa as the best place to live in Canada, according to an annual survey by MoneySense magazine
http://http://www.moneysense.ca/2013/03/20/canadas-best-places-to-live-2013/ in a ranking based on hard data such as employment, housing prices, crime, weather and household income.




In releasing its results of 200 Canadian cities on Wednesday, the magazine said `high incomes and an abundance of jobs fuelled by the boom in the energy sector are among the reasons it jumped from No. 14 last year to No. 1 this year.`





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Edmonton council approves controversial zoning changes for infill housing




EDMONTON - The city approved contentious zoning changes Tuesday that will make it easier to build houses on narrow lots in mature neighbourhoods.




The bylaw amendments, which come after four years of consultation and study, are intended to encourage greater population density in older areas while preserving their walkable, historic character.





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Major residential condo development planned for west end of downtown Calgary




CALGARY ` A major twin tower residential condo project is planned for the west end of Calgary`s downtown.




Grosvenor and Cressey Development Group are proposing to build 24-storey and 18-storey towers, comprising 319 units, at the corner of 5th Avenue and 10th Street S.W.





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Alberta 'land rush'




High commodity and livestock prices are pushing the demand for prime agriculture land in southern Alberta and fuelling investments by producers and non-farmers alike.




"We've never seen anything like this. It's like the land rush all over," said veteran realtor Ben Van Dyk, a senior agent with Farm & Ranch by Better Homes and Gardens Real Estate.




Van Dyk says the demand for prime irrigated agricultural land is being pushed not only by specialty crop producers but also the livestock industry, which is enjoying fat times economically.





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Office supply tightens in Calgary


Office space in downtown Calgary will be even harder to find in 2013 and early 2014, predicts Colliers International.




The commercial real estate giant is predicting in its recent Calgary downtown update that the office vacancy rate in the core of Alberta's largest city will fall further in 2013, to only 2.4 per cent, reflecting both pent-up demand for space and the lack of any large new projects coming on stream in 2013.





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St. Albert named top small city in Canada




MoneySense Magazine has confirmed what locals have known all along ` when it comes to small cities, St. Albert is the best there is. And if it weren`t for Calgary, St. Albert would be the best city in all of Canada.




St. Albert vaulted up the overall list of the magazine`s annual Canada`s Best Places to Live rankings, from 12th overall in 2012 to second in 2013, behind only Calgary.





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Alberta has the lowest ratio of unemployed people for every job vacancy



CALGARY ` Alberta is tied with Saskatchewan for the lowest ratio of unemployed people for every job vacancy in the country, according to Statistics Canada.





The federal agency reported Wednesday that there were 1.9 unemployed people for every job vacancy in Alberta in December, down from 2.3 in December 2011.







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Calgary ranks last on Canada's list of most walkable cities





CALGARY ` Calgary was ranked the least walkable in a Top 10 list of Canada`s biggest cities obtained Tuesday.




Toronto, Edmonton and Brampton were considered more pedestrian-friendly in a report being billed as the first countrywide, apples-to-apples comparison of walkability.




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How we measured walkability in Calgary usin walk score




Measuring walkability is tricky, so we turned to Seattle-based Walk Score for help.




They have created an online tool that calculates the walkability of an address based on its distance to amenities such as grocery stores, restaurants and schools.




It has two handy tools available for measuring walkability.





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What makes Calgary an 'out performer' in Canadian real estate?





On 11th March, 2013, TD Economics, one of the largest financial institutes in Canada, presented its special report, titled `Long-Run Rate of Return for Canadian Home Prices.` In the report, TD listed Calgary, Vancouver, Toronto and Edmonton as prospective out-performers in the future real estate scene. Marcus Arkan, CTO Syndicate Mortgages, recently presented his analysis of TD`s report on the future of various markets.







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An opportunity squandered




In 1987, the value of Alberta`s Heritage Savings and Trust Fund stood at $12.7 billion. That year, the province faced a massive budget deficit and transfers to the fund from resource revenues were suspended.




Such deposits did not resume again until almost two decades later and only lasted two years before being suspended again.





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Homebuying intentions fall, but Albertans lead the country when it comes to confidence in owning a home







CALGARY, March 26, 2013 /CNW/ - Nearly nine-in-10 Albertans (89 per cent) surveyed say buying a house or condo is a good investment, higher than the national average (84 percent), even as home buying intentions have dropped from a year ago (22 per cent, compared with 31 per cent), according to the 20[sup]th[/sup] Annual RBC Homeownership Poll.







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Alberta weekly earnings top all provinces




CALGARY ` Average weekly earnings of non-farm payroll employees in Alberta were the highest of any province in the country in January, according to Statistics Canada.




The federal agency reported Wednesday that earnings in the province reached $1,090.33. That was down 0.4 per cent from December. However, it was up 3.6 per cent on a year-over-year basis.





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Alberta rate of inflation lowest in Canada




CALGARY ` The rate of inflation in Alberta in February was the lowest in Canada as the country experienced its biggest monthly increase since January 1991.




Statistics Canada reported Wednesday that the Consumer Price Index in the province rose by 0.9 per cent from January. It was also up by only 0.9 per cent from a year ago.





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Alberta's pipeline economics




When Alberta's oil sands started being commercially developed almost 50 years ago, the biggest challenge for companies was finding cost-effective production technologies. Producers such as Sun Oil Company (now Suncor Energy) and Syncrude focused on securing capital rather than launching public relations campaigns.




Industry and the Alberta government might have some regrets in that regard. As opposition to the carbon-intense development of the massive resource mounts, even seemingly benign pipelines have become vehicles in the battle over bitumen.







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Calgary leads country in head offices




CALGARY ` Calgary has the largest number of head offices per 100,000 population in the country, according to a report released Tuesday by Statistics Canada.




The federal agency said the ratio in Calgary was 17.7 in 2011, followed by Toronto (12.6), Winnipeg (11.9), Edmonton and Montreal (both 10.4), and Vancouver (10.2).





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Stability solidifies Canadian LNG's prospects




For all the attributes that make Canadian LNG attractive - huge gas potential, coastal access, proximity to markets - it seems strange to think B.C. Premier Christy Clark and Prime Minister Stephen Harper are among the industry's best assets.




In a report on the rapidly evolving global LNG industry, the business advisers Ernst & Young listed "political stability" as a major attribute for Canadian companies joining the new wave of investment in the liquefied natural gas business worldwide.





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