November 2011 Alberta Economic Fundamentals

[Ally]

Calgary resale price hikes lowest in Canada




Compared to the same period last year, price increases for resale homes in Calgary during July to September were the lowest in the country, says a national real estate survey.




`It`s unbelievable,` says Ted Zaharko, broker/owner of Royal LePage Foothills. `The only reason I can think of to explain why it`s so slow here is the lack of new listings.`




Average condo prices in Calgary rose to $254,467 during July to September, a 3.2-per-cent increase compared to the same period last year, says a national Royal Lepage survey.





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[Ally]

Calgary MLS sales increase in October





Job growth lifted Calgary's residential real estate sector in October as single-family and condominiums sales saw gains.




The Calgary Real Estate Board said Tuesday that last month's 988 single-family sales were up 11 per cent over October 2010 but "continue to remain well below historical levels." Condo sales jumped 20 per cent to 368 units.




The average sale price for a singlefamily home was up by 2.35 per cent year-over-year to $455,399 while the condo average dropped by 1.70 per cent to $282,903.






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[Ally]

Calgary housing market poised to show strong price growth




`Pay attention. Something`s happening here,` says Don Campbell, president of the Real Estate Investment Network in Canada.




Campbell is paying attention to the all the reports coming out these days showing some positive economic news for Alberta and Calgary. Good economic growth. In-migration levels rising. And employment growth leading the way in Canada.




The real estate market lags the economy by about 18 months, he says.And the economy is in recovery. We`ve now seen the job growth and the population growth starting to affect the rental vacancy rates which have gone down, resulting in rents rising.





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[Ally]

From homeless to home owner




Tasha Brown counts herself as a victim of Calgary`s last economic boom.




The 2006 spike in housing prices and the near zero rental vacancy rate spawned a variety of illegal real estate schemes, and Ms. Brown, then a part-time child care worker, full-time single mother of three, lost a hefty damage deposit to a scam.





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[Ally]

Five challenges facing the energy sector in 2012




Global energy markets stand at a crossroads. The big themes that dominated the opening years of the century (prosperity, markets, peak oil, global warming and clean technology) are giving way to a different set of concerns centered on inequality, affordability, regulation and techniques for extracting oil and gas from tight rock formations and ever-deeper below the surface.




Some changes have come from outside the energy industry. The financial crisis has diminished confidence in free markets. Falling real incomes and rising unemployment in the advanced economies have pushed climate concerns into the background in favour of a focus on jobs and cutting household bills.






Other changes have come from within the energy markets. A decade of soaring real oil prices is at last beginning to transform the long-neglected supply side of the industry, encouraging widespread employment of technologies such as ultra-deepwater drilling and hydraulic fracturing to extend conventional oil and gas reserves.





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[Ally]

Calgary house prices increase 126% in the last decade





CALGARY ` Strong in-migration, population growth and a vibrant oil and gas sector have pushed Calgary average house prices to an increase of 126 per cent in the past decade, says a new report released Monday by Re/Max.




The report said renovation spending and new construction have been `considerable` secondary factors propping up values throughout the city between 2000-2010.






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[Ally]

Oil demand globally to peak before 2020





Global oil demand is expected to peak before 2020 as a `perfect storm` of regulation promotes energy efficiency, new technology and biofuel use across the world, according to a new study.




The report, by respected industrial consultancy group Ricardo, challenges the widespread view that `peak oil` will come as soaring emerging market demand causes oil supplies to diminish. The report concludes that the peak in demand will be no more than 4pc above the record set in 2010, when the world consumed 87.4 million barrels of oil a day. Demand in 2035 is expected to be 3pc below the 2010 level.






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[Ally]

Gains in Edmonton home prices second in the country over the last decade




A red-hot economy fuelled unprecedented price appreciation in Edmonton over the last decade, making the city Canada's secondstrongest-performing market - up 165 per cent since 2000, says a report release Monday by Re/Max.




Across Canada, the report says the average value of housing doubled to $339,030 in 2010 from $163,951 a decade earlier.




In Edmonton, the average price of a home climbed from $124,203 in 2000 to $328,803 in 2010, peaking in 2007 at $338,636.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Local house-price surge second-biggest in last decade




A red-hot economy fuelled unprecedented price appreciation in Edmonton over the last decade, making the city Canada`s second-strongest-performing market ` up 165 per cent since 2000, says a report released Monday by Re/Max.




Across Canada, the report says the average value of housing doubled to $339,030 in 2010 from $163,951 a decade earlier.




In Edmonton, the average price of a home climbed from $124,203 in 2000 to $328,803 in 2010, peaking in 2007 at $338,636.





Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Arena vital if Edmonton wants to stay in the game




Vancouver may be a resort masquerading as a city - as a Toronto-based newspaper reporter once sniffed.




But Canada's West Coast metropolis certainly doesn't suffer from any sense of civic inferiority. Quite the contrary, in fact. As any Vancouverite is only too happy to tell you, it's the most beautiful city on earth. What else do you need to know?




Edmonton's civic ego is a tad more fragile. We don't have the ocean or the mountains as a natural backdrop, and we're accustomed to playing second fiddle to Calgary on the national stage.





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[Ally]

Oil sands key to global job growth: IEA




OTTAWA `Alberta`s oil sands provide one of the world`s few areas of energy production growth outside the volatile Middle East and North Africa, though environmental concerns could hinder its expansion, the International Energy Agency said in a report Wednesday.




The commentary was contained in an IEA analysis that warned the world is at risk of being locked into an `insecure, inefficient and high-carbon energy system` that will lead to average temperature increases of 3.5 C ` well above the 2 C benchmark most scientists advise as the maximum increase to avoid dangerous climate change.







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[Ally]

Keystone, Gateway will sway oil trade





Canada's two major proposed oil sands pipelines have the potential to transform the global crude trade outlook, says a report by the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries.




And that's just the tip of the iceberg: Non-conventional supplies will quadruple over the next 25 years and the Canadian oil sands and U.S. shale oil will lead the charge, according to OPEC.




TransCanada Corp.'s Keystone XL pipeline and Enbridge Inc.'s Northern Gateway plan have come under fire from environmentalists, but the forecast highlights the oil sands' tremendous potential, and their ability to be a game changer in the global energy mix.





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[Ally]

Environmentalists 'smoking dope' when it comes to pipelines: Critic





Environmentalists who believe a massive global investment in renewable energy is the answer to future demands are "smoking dope," International Energy Agency deputy executive director Richard Jones said Wednesday.




He was responding to Greenpeace Canada accusations the IEA was taking an "intellectually and morally inconsistent" stand by supporting pipelines and the oilsands while scolding world leaders about climate change inaction.




The oilsands bitumen that would be carried by proposed pipelines from Alberta to a port on B.C.'s west coast and to Texas, are important components of global energy security, Jones said.




Read the full article here.

 

[Ally]

Toronto tower builder eyes three Calgary projects





CALGARY ` A Toronto residential tower condominium developer is proposing three projects for Calgary, attracted by the city`s wealth and style.




Brad Lamb, head of Lamb Development Corp., said Wednesday his company will partner with Fortress Real Capital on the first project, a 30-storey, 230-unit condo at 10th Street and 6th Avenue S.W.




The project is expected to cost about $62 million to build and its residential units and ground level retail to sell for around $80 million, he said.




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[Ally]

Premier says Keystone delay won't kill project





A delay in the Keystone XL pipeline imposed by the United States government is "disappointing" but not necessarily fatal for a project seen as crucial for Alberta's energy economy, Premier Alison Redford said Thursday.




But opposition parties quickly pointed their fingers at the Progressive Conservative government - and rookie premier - saying more needs to be done to advocate for the $7-billion project.




The U.S. State Department announced Thursday the project will be delayed to study an alternate route for the line, which is intended to carry crude from the Athabasca oilsands in northern Alberta to Texas for refining.






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[Ally]

TransCanada, Nebraska agree to re-route pipeline




TransCanada Corp. and Nebraska agreed Monday to re-route the controversial Keystone XL oil pipeline away from a vast underground water source in the state.




The move is sure to re-ignite the fierce debate over environmental concerns about the 2,700-kilometre pipeline versus the appeal of millions dollars in taxes and thousands of jobs for the stagnant U.S. economy.




The massive pipeline, if built, would deliver 700,000 barrels a day of crude from Alberta`s oil sands to refineries in Texas.




The proposed route would have crossed six states, including Nebraska`s ecologically sensitive Sandhills region and the Ogallala aquifer, which provides water for millions in the area.





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[Ally]

Mining sector to invest $67.7 billion in Alberta




Canada's mining industry will invest as much as $140 billion in this country over the next five years, and almost 50% of it will be in Alberta. The province will grow thanks to 12 mining projects proposed for development by 2016 with combined costs of $67.7 billion.




That was the message Mining Association of Canada (MAC) president and CEO Pierre Gratton told his audience at the recent Edmonton Economic Development's 2012 Economic Outlook Luncheon.




"There is tremendous opportunity facing the Canadian mining industry - an opportunity not seen in several generations," Gratton said. "Multi-billion dollar investments are planned in both new and existing projects in virtually every province and territory of Canada, bringing significant economic benefits, and Alberta is set to be a major player."





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[Ally]

Enbridge plays the right cards in high-stake pipeline game



EDMONTON - In the high-stakes world of pipeline poker, Enbridge is proving to be a far more wily player than its longtime rival, TransCanada.





While TransCanada twists itself into a pretzel over the Obama government`s decision to delay a final ruling on the company`s proposed $700-million Keystone XL pipeline until 2013, Enbridge is forging ahead with a less contentious, more piecemeal plan to move oilsands bitumen to the Gulf Coast.





While Enbridge`s more cautious, staged approach may not generate the same kind of media buzz as Keystone XL, which ignited a firestorm of public protest, that may be just what Enbridge wants.





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[Ally]

Northern leg of Henday opens for motorists



It's a long-awaited day for commuters in and around Edmonton Tuesday, as the province opened a major portion of the northern leg of the Anthony Henday throughout the afternoon.





It's been three years since the sod was first turned on the project.





Drivers had their first taste of the new roadway after 2 p.m. Tuesday.





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[Ally]

Interchanges clear traffic flow on Henday




According to Alberta Transportation construction on the Anthony Henday Drive has been 90 per cent completed.




The interchanges at Stony Plain Road, Callingwood Road, Lessard Road, Rabbit Hill Road and Cameron Heights drive were officially opened on Saturday, November 19.


"This is a huge milestone because it's 69 kilometers of free flow traffic," Minister of Alberta Transportation Ray Danyluk said.




"It's not just about Edmonton," Coun. Ed Gibbons told CTV News.




"It's about the region. It's about the province," he said




"It opens up free flow from Grande Prairie to Nanton."





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