Archive for June, 2008
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Bubble
There was a very interesting link left on Sheldon's blog - The 14 part documentary (it's not too long though, each part is 2 to 5 minutes long) on Alberta oil sands and the social and environmental impact it is causing in the Fort McMurray region. Although a lot ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Bubble
A lot is happening around us at this time in the financial markets that will probably impact consumer psychology. But here are some 'micro' level reasons why it’s a bad time to buy in Alberta right now: 1. ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Bubble
Real Estate buyers in Alberta sure seem to be taking longer than expected vacations. While close to a hundred properties are being listed every day since the beginning of the year, the buyers are simply not showing up. The sales to new listings ratio is sitting at a ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Bubble
are out...and as mentioned earlier, don't look too bad.But, when combined with over 20 per cent decline in sales volume (and a change in the product mix), the price increases are not unexpected.Since we don't have the 'representative property' available for Edmonton, we have to rely on the less ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Bubble
2007 is coming to an end and before starting the New Year, let’s do a quick assessment of the Alberta Real Estate situation. Let’s start from ground realities. It’s still a lot cheaper to rent than to buy. Our ‘flipper’ friends make it abundantly easy to rent a brand ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Bubble
It's official now. Fewer people moved to Alberta than those who left as per the latest release from Stats Can. Alberta had a negative inter provincial migration of around 3300, the first negative reading since 1994. From the release:"On the other hand, the main engine of Alberta's demographic growth—interprovincial ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
The monthly numbers are out for Edmonton and Calgary and there is a lot to cover.From Edmonton's report: Never been a better time to buy a home, says REALTORS® AssociationMay sales exceeded same month sales in 2003 and 2004 but were below May sales for 2005-2007 ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
Obfuscated definition:Darkened or cast in the shadow or background; obscured by withholding proper light or emphasis; hence, confused, bewildered or lost sight of. Obfuscation refers to the concept of concealing the meaning of communication by making it more confusing and harder to interpret.Lets look at the ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
If you want to sell you need to lower your price. Follow the steps below to arrive at a more reasonable asking price.1. Find a similar property listed on the MLS. By similar I mean the same number of bedrooms/bathrooms in the same location.2. WRONG. That ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
By critizing Bob Truman I let him know that he and his website are #1. It is my way of showing appreciation of a Calgary REALTOR for performing structured queries on a database I do not have access to and posting the numbers on his ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
Below is a table comparing American median detached home prices from Q1 2008 to Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver. Canadian prices are median from April 2008, Vancouver is benchmark instead. Edmonton includes the region, Spruce Grove, leduc, Morinville etc. Calgary is for Calgary ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
There was higher percentage of high-end homes sold this April. Here are the numbers compared to 2007: $1million +April 2008: 3.08%April 2007: 1.50%These sales skewed the average price ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
"Those are the people that went out and bought four, five, six, seven condos in a building that wasn't going to be built for two years. All of those buildings are now being completed. Those people did not want to be landlords. They were going to ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
Below are some interesting ways to describe falling real estate values in Alberta:"Relaxing House Prices"Edmonton Journal, May 07, 2008"Softening In Prices"Edmonton Journal quoting Marc Perras, May 06 2008"The market is no longer bearing the prices that it did a year ago"Ed Jensen, CREB, May 1, 2008MLS® ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
Mr. Perras was one of the experts quoted in the article How real estate went from boom to buyer's market in the blink of an eyeQ: Should I buy now or wait?Perras: "I think it's a great time to buy now. If we're going to see ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
From the Realtors Association of Edmonton April report:April sales of all types of residential property through the Multiple Listing Service® were lower than the two previous years at 1,823 units but higher than the more typical years of 2004 and 2005.It's technically correct by ignoring a ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
The CREB has cooled down somewhat and acknowledged the buyer's marker in their most recent update. Let's look back at one indicator they have been using to track the market, and how it has been changed over time.Below are some charts showing absorption rates from ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
'Bear' with this cheap post while I wait for Realtor board press releases. They will be juicy.From Bob Truman's What's New:Apr 13Last year, sales of SFH dropped from March to April. This year, April sales are 7% ahead of March sales. Condo sales are 24% ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
From 15 real estate myths and realities:Generally though, British Columbians, and Lower Mainlanders in particular, are pretty savvy about their property, the experts believe, with so much information out there about real estate, between Real Estate Weekly, the real-estate sections in newspapers, the realtors' Multiple Listing ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »
Thursday, June 5th, 2008
Alberta Real Estate Watch
When prices decrease a larger percentage of lower-priced homes sell. Low-priced may not mean the same thing as low-end in a environment of decreasing prices. I don't know whether to interpret this as useful information or a sophisticated way of implying that the sales ...
Posted in Calgary | No Comments »