My Edmonton Realtor® Blog
I like to keep an eye on local reports and share them with you, to keep you informed on market conditions.If you ever want to add something to this, please feel free to contact me on (780) 932-2121
Friday, March 6, 2009 - New TFSAs find plenty of takers
The tax-free savings account launched this year has been called the greatest thing since the registered retirement savings plan was introduced with a $2,500 limit in 1957, and many Canadians are eagerly taking advantage of its benefits.
Brian Trofimuk, 38, a real estate salesman in Edmonton, opened his TFSA with stock index guaranteed investment certificates.
"There's tons of flexibility, it allows people to do whatever they want to do with their money, like buy a house or a car or just save for the future," Mr. Trofimuk says. "I think RRSPs are more for people who are wealthier.
"I bought interest-bearing investments, because interest is taxed the most. And I think you should have a little security. When you look at what's happened the last year, it shows you that GICs aren't so bad. If you lose money on investments you can't write that off in the tax-free savings account."
Jim Stein, 47, an engineer with the City of Edmonton, opened his TFSA with exchange traded funds.
"They both provide benefits," Mr. Stein says. "With the RRSP you aren't taxed on your contributions now, although you will be when you pull them out, hopefully at a lower rate than you are at now. The tax-free one is a no-lose situation, you can put after-tax dollars in, you're not taxed on any income and you can take them out at any time.
"An RRSP alone isn't enough to provide the income I need for retirement, so up until now we've also been investing in things like mutual funds that are taxable. The tax-free account serves, for our situation, both intermediate and long-term savings needs."
RBC's annual RRSP poll, conducted by Ipsos Reid, showed only 8% of Canadians who plan to open a TFSA intend to reduce their RRSP contributions.
Some 36% of those aware of the TFSA say they will maximize contributions to both accounts, while 23% plan on moving money from nonregistered accounts into a TFSA instead.
Kevin Stain is senior vice-president, individual insurance and investment, with Sun Life Financial Canada.
"The first thing an advisor is going to say is, 'Do you have non-registered money?' Into the TFSA that goes, then you continue on with your RRSP," Mr. Stain says.
"It's not one versus the other. What you have to ask yourself is when you need the cash. It will depend on if you have a specific purpose for the cash.
"You have to ask: 'What does my full financial position look like--my assets invested, my insurance coverage, what does my retirement plan look like, what are my goals, what does my cash position look like, what's my risk appetite?'
"You also want to look at what your current portfolio looks like. And do you have a defined benefit pension plan at work? What's your retirement going to look like? What do you have in terms of insurance coverage in case of emergency -- health and dental benefits, life insurance, critical insurance? Those kinds of things can all protect against a long-term need."
The general thought is to invest inside TFSAs for shorter-term things like a vehicle or special vacation, while putting funds into RRSPs for long-term retirement.
Source - Financial Post
Friday, March 6, 2009 - Great time to buy a house in Edmonton
The Realtor's Association of Edmonton says now is the perfect time to get into the housing market.
R-A-E President Charlie Ponde has been looking at the year-over-year sales figures and says prices are down slightly from 2008.
As well, the number of units on the market is down by about one-thousand, but with a shortage of buyers, he says the selection is better than it's been in a long time.
Ponde says, we have all the positives to spur the housing market: "We have great inventory, good interest rates and there's a lot of incentives out there, so people should not be sitting on the fence any longer."
Ponde says the price for an average home in our city is just below $350,000 dollars, down from just over $380,000 a year ago.
Source - iNews880
Thursday, February 26, 2009 - Edmonton still No. 1 for real-estate investing, author says
Economic slump seen as temporary setback
It was last August when real estate author and consultant Don Campbell crowned Edmonton the best place in North America to invest in residential real estate.
Since then, the price of oil has plunged, the Alberta government has predicted a billion-dollar deficit and the city's housing market has seen starts, prices and sales fall.
So is Edmonton still the best place to invest in residential real estate?
"Absolutely, it is," he said Monday during a visit to Edmonton from Vancouver. "There's no way the world can continue to afford $30 and $40 oil. ... Eventually, within 18 or 24 months, we're going to see the market come back to something that's more normal."
Campbell is author of Real Estate Investing in Canada 2.0 and president of the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN), a business that offers training to its members on real estate investing.
Last summer, a REIN report ranked Edmonton as the best place to invest in residential real estate, followed by Calgary, Red Deer, St. Albert and Grande Prairie. Devon placed ninth and Sturgeon and Strathcona counties tied at 10th. The list was compiled from a survey of statistical and demographic data from Statistics Canada, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp., Multiple Listing Service and other sources.
"That being said, we were so superhot here that the pendulum moved so quickly and has gone too far the other way. Like all economic pendulums, it comes back towards the norm and we'll start to see that pendulum start to swing a little bit more for Edmonton's sake. Right now, if you're focusing on yields, it's still the best place."
He said that Edmonton will top the list for the next five to 10 years, and with mortgage rates "ridiculously low" and likely to drop further, savvy investors could look like geniuses several years from now.
Campbell cautioned against trying to predict when the market will hit bottom "because you'll never hit it," especially when he's predicting up to two years of roller-coaster economic news.
He said investors should realize that certain parts of Edmonton's housing market will do better than others because of improvements to transportation.
Homes in areas that will benefit from the ongoing extension to the LRT line along 111th Street could outperform the market by 10 to 20 per cent, he said.
In other studies, Campbell said, values rose for properties within 800 metres of new rapid-transit stations or access to major highway improvements.
Plans to extend the Anthony Henday ring road will also improve the demand for nearby homes, he said. Another REIN report lists Parkallen, Belgravia, McKernan, Twin Brooks, Ermineskin and Sky Rattler as neighbourhoods that will gain the most -- both from the LRT extension and from the Henday. But other areas also stand to benefit in the future, Campbell said.
"We've seen what (the Anthony Henday) has done in the southwest. We've started to see what it's done in the southeast and it's now starting up northwest -- and that's going to positively affect St. Albert and Castle Downs."
For investors with a 10-year window, Campbell says the northeast quadrant is "going to be the biggest winner" from the ring road because prices in that area are relatively low.
"Once the ring road opens, the demand will increase, and even if one of those upgraders goes ahead in the Fort Saskatchewan region, that's equivalent to the number of jobs that it took to build the Hoover Dam and we saw what that did to the southwest United States during the Depression."
In a note of caution, Campbell said condo buyers should be wary of rushing to buy a piece of undeveloped property.
"We need to be cognizant that there are an awful lot of new condos coming onto the market, not just in Edmonton, but in Calgary and Vancouver.
"Please don't line up to buy a piece of property," Campbell said.
Source - Edmonton Journal
Thursday, February 19, 2009 - Promise of vibrant new life in a downtown dead zone
Mayfair Hotel set to fall in plan for apartment towers
The global economy may be groaning under the weight of the worst downturn in decades, but many real estate developers still see a bright future for the energy-fuelled Edmonton region.
For evidence, look no further than Mayfair Village -- a stylish new downtown highrise apartment project that could get underway as early as April, on the dreary stretch of Jasper Avenue where the derelict Mayfair Hotel now sits.
If Calgary-based developer ProCura Real Estate gets its way, the asbestos-ridden, 65-year-old hotel will soon face the wrecking ball, paving the way for work to begin on the firm's 708-unit, 15-storey complex.
Randy Ferguson, ProCura's Edmonton-based COO, says the eye-catching, $175-million project is designed to house roughly 900 residents in its two towers, with the north tower stretching an entire city block between 108th Street and 109th Street, on the south side of Jasper.
A smaller second tower, immediately south of the main tower, would face 109th Street, with a shared interior courtyard and rear service lane running running east and west between the two structures.
Unlike most new local highrise housing projects, Mayfair Village will be targeted at the midrange -- or affordable -- rental market, says Ferguson, with monthly rates for its one- and two-bedroom units pegged as close to average local rents as possible.
Nonetheless, architect Rick Arndt of Arndt Tkalcic Bengert has come up with a visually arresting design for the towers, featuring manufactured stone cladding and rounded corners.
On the ground floor, the project will be rimmed with street-friendly retail shops that have soaring 22-foot ceilings, and inviting, floor-to-ceiling glass frontage. Ferguson says ProCura hopes to attract fashion boutiques as tenants, along with the usual assortment of coffee shops and other retailers.
Since the project site requires no rezoning, ProCura's building permit application is already quickly winding its way through city hall. Ferguson says he sees no major regulatory hurdles ahead.
"The city administration has shown great interest in this project. I think they want to see something happen in this precinct, and at the same time, they recognize the need for this kind of housing.
"So I think it's a combination of the two that's driving their interest."
Ferguson says the TD Bank, ProCura's key lender on the project, is also supportive, although the final financing terms have yet to be nailed down.
With thousands of local rental units converted to condos -- or demolished -- in recent years, and with thousands more facing obsolescence in coming years, Ferguson says ProCura sees big
opportunities in the rental market.
"Edmonton's rental universe in the last three years has shrunk by more than 5,000 units, and the bulk of those units have been the most modest ones. Our rental vacancy rate is in the vicinity of 3.4 per cent to 3.5 per cent, and the vacancies are largely in the upper strata of rental units," Ferguson says.
"So that's only fulfilling the needs at the top end of the market. The cohort (Mayfair Village is targeting) is in that more modest band, and that's where there are no vacancies currently -- none."
Edmonton's huge population of 150,000-plus post-secondary students, and the city's growing numbers of independent seniors, singles and young professionals who prefer to live in or near the downtown core, are all key target markets for ProCura's project.
"It's more than just students. It's also people who have graduated, and are looking to start out on their own, as well as seniors," he says.
The site is also within a few blocks of the government district, as well as the head offices of three major Edmonton-based engineering consulting firms.
"There is a population coming behind us, and one thing they're not interested in is rolling around in cars. They want to live in an urban setting, and they want to have strong links to public transportation and high-speed transit," says Ferguson. "They want to be able to walk to their favourite restaurant, or their favourite grocery store. They want to live a pedestrian-oriented lifestyle."
With the Corona LRT station just a few feet from the northeast corner of ProCura's site, Ferguson figures Mayfair Village should appeal to this new generation of urbane, sophisticated urban dwellers.
The apartment units will be small but efficient, he insists, with an average size of 530 square feet. Most will be bachelor or one-bedroom units, although there will be a select number of 760-square-foot, two bedroom units.
Directly across the street from Mayfair Village, on the north side of Jasper, ProCura is also currently working on a $70-million redevelopment of the former Professional Building. Once it's completed this fall, the 11-storey tower will house about 1,000 white-collar workers, and its top four floors will serve as the new Edmonton head office for the $75-billion Alberta Investment Management Corp. (AIMCo).
Together, the two projects will inject a huge amount of vibrancy into a part of the downtown core that has long been a kind of urban dead zone.
"What we're offering (at Mayfair Village) is an urban, European style of living, where we're smart about the space and how we use it, so it's cool and comfortable as well as affordable. Our goal here is to create affordable-market housing, or what we call attainable housing. It's not subsidized housing."
If everything proceeds as planned, ProCura hopes to break ground by April. The 30-month construction schedule should mean tenants can move into their new homes by September, 2011.
"On Sept. 1, 2011, we'd like to see our buildings full of new occupants, enjoying their new environment, and us walking down the street with our chests puffed out like new fathers," Ferguson says.
Source - Edmonton Journal
Thursday, February 19, 2009 - Neighbours taking the avenue back
Det. Chris Hayduk is still waiting to meet Pablo.
Last fall, Pablo sent an emissary to the veteran city cop as he and some neighbours staged a "takeback" on 118 Avenue.
"This guy came up to me and asked what we were doing," Hayduk recalls. "I asked him why. He said, 'Pablo wants to know. He runs the street'," Hayduk grins. "I told him if Pablo wants to talk about it, he can come here and meet with me."
Pablo never showed. The takeback, where law abiding citizens hang out on the street corners to make drug dealers and pimps feel out of place, proceeded unabated.
Hayduk is getting used to being asked by friends and colleagues why on earth he'd set up house in one of the most notorious areas of Edmonton.
"Some of them can't understand why we'd live here," the veteran city cop says as he cinches up his apron. When off-duty, he can often be found behind the counter at The Carrot cafe on 118 Avenue, where he whips up a mean latte.
"As far as I'm concerned, this is the best neighbourhood in the city," he says. "There's a real sense of community, of closeness. I don't have a problem with my family living here, because I know which direction the neighbourhood's going."
Hayduk and his family live in a neighbourhood that outsiders avoid after dark. Sadly, it's a reputation that's well-earned. It's 10:30 a.m. and as he talks, Hayduk glances out the window at the strung-out, exhausted-looking prostitute across the street.
A generation ago, the vibrant, multicultural neighbourhood on the northeast fringe of the downtown core went into sharp decline. Through the late 1980s, 1990s and into this decade, it became open range for criminals. Street gangs brazenly declared it their turf.
People who could afford to move retreated to quieter neighbourhoods, surrendering the territory.
The recent real-estate boom is bringing people back, with first-time buyers and young families attracted to the lower prices. But not everyone is welcoming them.
Last fall, Hayduk was pressure-washing a vacant building in preparation for a local arts festival when he realized he was attracting puzzled stares from some nearby prostitutes.
Two were doing something suspicious in a doorway and Hayduk sauntered over to see what. The next thing he knew, he was surrounded by four women and two men, all telling him he had no business on the street and ordering him to leave.
He defused the situation, but realized that something had to be done to restore balance. "They don't like us here," Hayduk said. "They've gotten used to being able to conduct criminal activity in the open."
He formed a group called Community Response to Urban Disorder, which stages the takebacks.
They're not confrontational. They simply spend time on the street, reading a book, playing music or even playing board games. They remain in groups large enough that they can't be intimidated.
He recalls recognizing a drug dealer across the street. When a customer approached him and tried to make a purchase, the dealer got angry.
"He pointed to us, said, 'they're here' and walked away," he says.
The goal is to create an atmosphere where people don't have to be organized to hang out on the avenue - they'll just want to be there because it's a cool place.
That day, Hayduk says, is coming. "The more we're out here, the less they are."
Source - Edmonton Sun
Monday, February 9, 2009 - Great News For Edmonton LRT cost could fall by $70M
The proposed LRT line to NAIT could see construction costs drop by about $70 million because the city needs to buy less land than first expected, a new report says.
Although staff want permission to start expropriation proceedings for seven key properties, the number of lots required to complete the project is down from what was anticipated last spring.
The original budget included $150 million to purchase homes, apartment buildings, shops and other sites along the LRT right-of-way from downtown to NAIT, but a report released Thursday estimates only $80 million is now required.
Most of the drop came as a result of council's decision last fall to put tracks along 105th Street beside the Victoria School of Performing and Visual Arts rather than using a nearby alley, transit projects manager Wayne Mandryk said.
Further engineering work also shifted the alignment on Kingsway Avenue, meaning much of the Kingsway Mews shopping centre and other nearby sites won't be taken as planned, he said.
If this scheme is accepted by councillors, the estimated cost of the line would be $800 million, he said.
More precise figures should be available by June.
The land identified for possible expropriation covers three properties on 105th Avenue at 105th Street, one on 105th Avenue at 104th Street, a slice of the Kingsway Mews parking lot, the McDonald's on 111th Avenue and the 1.3-acre Kingsway legion site.
But Mandryk said negotiations will continue for six or seven months before expropriation would be considered, adding that it wasn't necessary on the south LRT.
"The expropriation report only addresses some of the critical properties we need in order to meet the construction schedule in the concept plan to see it completed by 2014."
Barry Wood, first vice-president and treasurer of the Kingsway legion, said his non-profit group is working on a voluntary expropriation in which they'd receive enough money for an equivalent building and lot.
With 1,800 members, they're the largest legion north of Red Deer and plan to reopen somewhere else with good transit service, he said, adding they've been asked to leave by the end of 2010.
"There are no hard feelings with the city. We want to co-operate with them. It's just a matter of sitting down and negotiating," Wood said.
While construction of the three-kilometre NAIT line depends on the provincial government providing $520 million from its green transit incentives program, the fund application process still hasn't been published, the report says.
Coun. Kim Krushell said the city has heard informally this is the sort of project the province wants, especially as the capital area moves toward regional planning in transit and other areas.
"We definitely need to go ahead. We have told citizens that the northwest LRT line will start downtown and go to NAIT, and eventually go to St. Albert. I think it would be worth it."
Source - Edmonton Journal
Monday, February 9, 2009 - Alberta lays charges against Syncrude for duck deaths
The federal and Alberta governments have laid charges against oilsands giant Syncrude Canada in connection with the deaths of 500 ducks at a tailings pond north of Fort McMurray, Alta., last spring.
The provincial charges, laid under the Alberta Environmental Protection and Enhancement Act, accuse Syncrude of failing to have proper deterrents in place at the facility.
Meanwhile, Environment Canada charged Syncrude under the federal Migratory Birds Convention Act for one count of allegedly depositing or permitting the deposit of a substance harmful to migratory birds in waters or an area frequented by birds.
Alberta Environment Minister Rob Renner said Monday both charges will be dealt with during the same court hearing.
"I don't know if circumstances such as this have ever happened," Mr. Renner said. "This is the first of its kind for charges to be laid in this manner in Alberta."
Alberta Justice Minister Alison Redford said the investigation was handled jointly by Alberta Environment and Environment Canada.
"This has been done hand in hand," she said.
The maximum penalty for the provincial charge is a $500,000 fine, and the maximum on the federal charge on summary conviction is a fine of $300,000 or six months imprisonment, or both.
Redford said that if the province is successful in getting a conviction, it will be seeking a "creative sentencing" penalty against Syncrude that might commit the company to do work in technical development or environmental programming.
About 500 ducks landed on the Aurora mine tailings pond north of Fort McMurray on April 28.
They became covered in oily residue floating on the surface and quickly sank to the bottom of the pond. Only a handful of waterfowl were recovered. The company said it delayed its normal deployment of deterrent 'scare' cannons at the pond due to a late spring snowstorm.
The deaths caused an international uproar and critics said it gave Canada, and particularly Alberta, a black eye.
Environmentalists around the world have branded oil from the oilsands "dirty" and have lobbied governments to refuse to buy or to use it.
Mr. Renner said it was important to the credibility of the environmental regulatory system to lay charges in this widely publicized incident.
"I think we have an obligation to enforce our legislation," he said. "If we believe there has been an infraction committed under our legislation I think we have an obligation not only to the environment, but to the public and to the credibility of our system."
Tailings ponds are used by oilsands mining companies to store water used in the oil upgrading process. Particles of heavy bitumen, sand and clay settle out in the ponds so the water can be reused.
New provincial rules governing tailings ponds were unveiled last week.
They call on oilsands mining companies to reduce the fine particles in liquid tailings by 50% within four years.
The directive, posted on the Alberta Energy Resources Conservation Board website, directs that tailings ponds be made ready for reclamation within five years after they are no longer being used.
Source - Canwest News
Monday, February 9, 2009 - Gangsters lured to Alberta by boom times heading home - This is great news!
Street gang members who moved west to chase a dream of dealing drugs and getting rich are heading home, Ottawa police say, forced back by tough times in their cutthroat trade.
A steady flow of these street-level entrepreneurs left their hometowns to deal drugs in red-hot Alberta, but as the overall economy has worsened, so, too, have gang members' fortunes.
Now there is less money to be made and increased competition for the business that remains.
Additionally, gangs have seen the murders of their members by presumed rivals and have come under increased police scrutiny since moving west.
Ottawa police Staff Sgt. Chris Renwick said these combined factors have brought some very familiar faces back to the nation's capital.
"We have seen a slowdown on the people going there and also we're seeing people returning," he said.
In some cases, these street gang members have had to phone police in Ottawa to tell them they have returned because of release conditions they must follow, he said.
In January 2008, the Ottawa Citizen reported at least 20 Ottawa street gang members had migrated to Alberta in search of better business prospects in 2007.
Police said many held connections to the Ledbury-Banff Crips -- the long-established Ottawa street gang that has seen three of its members deported from Canada for criminal activities in the last year.
Dr. Cathy Prowse, a professor, gang expert and former police officer, said it is natural for gang members to go where the money is--especially when times get tough.
"These guys, they'll go somewhere else, lay low and some of them will even engage in other types of activities," she said.
"They branch out and they go to other things that they think will keep them afloat for the time being,"Prowse added, listing robberies, extortion and protection rackets as examples of activities street gang members might pursue during the current economic downturn.
Whatever their reasons for leaving the West, police in Alberta have also noticed the change of address.
Edmonton police Insp. Kevin Galvin said a sagging provincial economy has left Alberta's migrant street gangs fighting for their share in an ever-tightening marketplace.
"The migration of other groups here into Western Canada is slowing,"he said. "But the ones that are here, or the crews or the groups that are here, are trying to strengthen their business processes because they've got a bit of a foothold here and they want to try to keep it."
In addition to a tougher domestic marketplace, street gangs have also faced economic challenges from a Mexican drug war that has pushed up production costs, including the price of importing cocaine, he said.
They've suffered credit problems, too: Those street gangs that borrowed drugs when money was flowing freely through the oil-rich economy must now pay back their lenders.
"Business is different for them right at the moment, because they can't just focus on providing their product," said Galvin, who is part of the organized crime branch of Edmonton police.
"They now have to provide their product, protect their consumer base, keep their people in line, stop from having a hostile takeover occur," he added.
Galvin said the gangs in much of northern Alberta-- Edmonton, Fort McMurray and Grande Prairie--are more likely to be from the Toronto area, while those in Calgary tend to have stronger Ottawa connections.
Calgary, of course, has seen its share of street gang violence involving former Ottawa residents, including shootings and other incidents.
In the past couple of years, the killings of "three Ottawa-area men" in Alberta --two in Calgary and one in Edmonton --have caught the eye of police in both provinces, Renwick said.
This type of violence prompted Calgary police to crack down on these street gang members' activities. Last fall, police announced they had broken up a local drug-dealing network that was controlled from Ottawa and had been tied to at least four separate shooting incidents.
Source - Calgary Herald
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - Report predicts busy 2009 for Edmonton Real Estate landlords
Landlords will be busier in 2009 - buying and selling properties and competing for tenants, predicts a new report by Avison Young.
After 2008, which saw Edmonton sales volume for apartment transactions fall by 80 per cent year-over-year, the pace will continue to be slow but pick up in the latter half of 2009, said the commercial real estate firm's Edmonton Multi-family Market Report released Monday.
"In the first month of 2009 we are seeing a lot of interest from purchasers who are looking for great deals," said Paul Chaput, Avison Young multi-family investment sales specialist.
"2008 was a slow year for transactions. The lack of sales activity made it difficult for investors to agree on which direction the market was going. We expect things will change in '09 - more transactions at prices supported by the income fundamentals of the property."
The forecast predicts "apartment prices to stabilize at lower, income-based levels but remain high by historical standards."
There will be upward pressure on the vacancy rate but it will average no more than four or five per cent, the report predicted, while rents will rise "marginally" by another three to five per cent - except for higher-end suites competing with condo rentals.
Landlords will turn to incentives as competition increases for tenants.
Source - Global News
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - Wild winds knock out power in Alberta
Strong winds downed trees and power lines across the province overnight Friday, leaving more than 10,000 homes without electricity.
The outages stretched as far north as Lac La Biche and Athabasca - between 140 and 200 kilometres north of Edmonton - through Drayton Valley, Whitecourt and Stony Plain to the northwest and southwest of the city, said FortisAlberta spokeswoman Jennifer MacGowan.
By Saturday morning, power had been restored to most customers, with the exception of a few oilfield sites near Drayton Valley and a small number of rural homes in and around Ardrossan, she added.
Crews worked through the night to restore power, but were hampered by poor weather that included freezing rain in some areas.
FortisAlberta provides power to about 460,000 customers across central and southern Alberta living outside the cities of Edmonton, Calgary, Lethbridge and Medicine Hat.
Wind gusts of between 90 and 110 km an hour were reported in the Edmonton region Friday evening and through southern Alberta, according to Environment Canada.
Bassano, about 100 km southeast of Calgary, reported a wind gust of 126 km an hour, he said.
The same weather system knocked out power to some Epcor customers in Edmonton Friday night. By Saturday, the problems had all been fixed, said Epcor spokesman Tim le Riche.
Source - Edmonton Journal
Tuesday, February 3, 2009 - Nine charged in Edmonton firebombings
Eight teenagers and a young man have been arrested in connection with a wave of firebombings in an Edmonton, Alberta, suburb in the past year, police said.
Since last March, police have consulted with schools, community groups and parents and developed a theory that a dispute between two groups of teenagers resulted in as many as a dozen homes being attacked with Molotov cocktails, the Edmonton Journal reported.
Three 16-year-olds, three 17-year-olds, two 18-year-olds and a 20-year-old face more than 100 charges, the Edmonton Sun said.
City Councilor Amarjeet Sohi told the Journal at least two more teens have yet to be charged for their alleged roles in the wave of firebombings.
While no one was seriously injured in the attacks, damage to some of the homes exceeded $100,000, the reports said.
While the bombings appeared to target the homes of rivals, one fire on July 9 was apparently a mistake. An apology note was left in the home's mailbox saying: "The wrong house was targeted ... we believed that someone else lived there. There is no need to worry for any future attacks."
Source - Edmonton Journal
Thursday, January 29, 2009 - Edmonton numbers looking up for 2009
Life in Canada's real estate market is expected to be brighter on the 2009 side of the annual divide, say Realtors® upon releasing national sales data for the last three months of 2008.
The quarterly survey's Calgary data tells a story that has by now become familiar: just as Calgary's real estate market eclipsed the national average on the upside, it's doing so again on the way down.
The average price of a Calgary bungalow fell by 4.5% to $410,333 from $429,889 in the fourth quarter last year compared to one year ago, the survey says. Nationally, prices in this category fell by 4.8%.
The contrast between Calgary and national figures becomes pronounced in two-storey home and condominium categories.
Prices in the former fell by 11.6% to $408,263 from $461,811, the steepest drop in the country, while condominium prices fell by 9.5% to $257,189 from $284,144, second only to Edmonton's 14% price drop. The new year will see a rebound of consumer confidence, which last month had plunged to depths not seen in nearly three decades.
"The tumultuous times that characterized the end of 2008 are not anticipated to define 2009," the survey says, noting nearly half of the respondents said they believe the public funds Ottawa is just about to pump into the economy will have a positive impact on the country's real estate market. As well, 82% of the respondents said they believe Barack Obama's ascension to the presidency of the U.S. will boost the confidence of consumers north of the border.
That confidence remains depressed, says the Conference Board of Canada, which released its January index of consumer confidence yesterday. The Prairie provinces, including Alberta, saw the confidence index dip 1.8% this month to 75 points, well above the national average.
Source - Calgary Sun
Friday, January 23, 2009 - Your Edmonton Property may be worth more than you thought: CREA
Check out this report from CREA, something to think about when looking at the Edmonton Real Estate Market.
The Canadian Real Estate Association says the price of your home is not down as much as you think, as long as you don't live in one of the country's larger cities.
The Ottawa-based group, which represents 100 boards across the country, says major markets like Vancouver, Calgary, Edmonton and Toronto are skewing the average sale price and has come up with a new way of calculating the figure.
CREA says using a weighted national average price for sales on the multiple listings service, prices were down 4.7% in November compared with a year ago. The weighted average compensates for dramatic changes in sales activity in some provinces. Not using the weighted average, prices were down 9.8% last month from a year ago.
In the case of Greater Vancouver sales were off almost 70% last month from a year ago. Vancouver is the most expensive market in the country with an average sale price of $500,747 last month, so any decline in sales will drag down the national average price down.
Real estate author and former Member of Parliament Garth Turner said the weighted average formula was nothing more than an attempt to confuse consumers.
I think it's obfuscation of reality. They come up with a house price index instead of giving you the median price or the average price," said Mr. Turner. It's an attempt to gloss over reality and the reality is we are in a semi-free fall in terms of real estate sales."
He says it's only a matter of time until the dramatic decline in sales begins to have a larger impact on prices across the country.
Housing sales hit a seven-year low last month, according to CREA. It said there were 27,743 sales in November on a seasonally-adjusted basis, the lowest monthly level since January, 2001. It was a 12.3% decline from a month earlier.
The average sale price for a house in Canada fell to $280,880 last month. It was the fifth straight month of falling prices.
The housing market reflects the economic reality in Canada," said Calvin Lindberg, president of CREA, adding the consequences for the overall economy are huge. CREA estimates the decline in housing activity so far this year translates into $2.8-billion less in spin-off consumer spending.
We should not lose sight of the fact the World Economic Forum labelled Canadian banks as the soundest banks in the world and remember that Canada is the only country in the G8 not running a deficit," said Mr. Lindberg.
That being said, CREA does not see much cause for optimism in the coming months.
These changes in the Canadian housing market reflect a broader and weakened picture of both the economy and buyer sentiment," said Greg Klump, chief economist with CREA. National sales activity and price trends will continue to reflect increased cautiousness on the part of lenders and buyers, as the economy works its way through and out of the current recession."
Source - National Post
Friday, January 23, 2009 - 'New norm' for Edmonton Real Estate is $350,000: realtors
Home sales are expected to drop 10.5 per cent in 2009 in what the Realtors Association of Edmonton still describes as a reasonably good year ahead."
Buyer reluctance will continue through the first part of the year," association president Charlie Ponde said in a news release. But confidence will return in the latter part of the year and sales will pick up."
Ponde predicted that residential MLS sales would total 15,500 in 2009, down more than 1,800 units from the 2008 tally of 17,317.
House prices will vary in the next 12 months but will likely be near the $350,000 level by December, he said.
The dramatic rise in housing prices in 2006 and '07 was unsustainable and prices dropped back in 2008," Ponde said at a news conference.
But we think that we have levelled off and $350,000 is the new norm for single-family homes in Edmonton."
Condo prices are expected to drop five per cent as more units come on the market to end 2009 at $222,500 from $234,000 in December 2008.
As condo developers trim their prices to clear excess inventory, they will put downward pressure on existing condo prices," Ponde said.
Buyers may find bargains on recreational properties because the sales-to-listing ratio was just 26 per cent in 2008.
The decrease in value of stock market portfolios and other investments may mean that some clients will need to liquidate recreational properties," the association said.
Source - Edmonton Journal
Monday, January 5, 2009 - Local retail and Edmonton Real Estate look to make the most of '09
Both Edmonton real estate and retail associations yesterday told Sun Media - on the eve of New Year's Eve - that they are expecting steady and measurable declines or even increases in business during the coming year.
Players in Edmonton's consumer markets are looking forward to a profitable 2009, despite a looming economic slowdown.
Jon Hall, marketing manager at the Realtors Association of Edmonton, said he is optimistic and that his members will still be making the case for homes as safe buys, despite an admitted decline in home values.
"(The drop) has been - I would use (the word) orderly," he said.
"This is old news, but the Edmonton housing market peaked in June and July of 2007. Once peaked, the market can only go down," he said.
House flippers aside, he said anyone who wants to buy or keep a house for the long-term has little to worry about.
Homeowners who stay in their homes for a decade or more will see their homes increase in value regardless of the economy, he said. So long as they can afford the mortgage payments, they will be OK, he added.
He considers Alberta a stable job market.
"I think people shouldn't be reading the newspapers," he said.
"Buy a house, turn off the TV and live with it."
House flippers - buyers who buy a home and renovate it so they can quickly sell it for a profit - may be a dying breed, however, in a slowing housing market, said Hall.
The 70%-plus yearly price increases that made quick flips possible are "not happening today," he said.
Meanwhile, some consumers seem to be ignoring economic doom and gloom and turning out in record numbers at some shops.
"Life around here won't slow down too much," said Cameron Malcolm, director of marketing and events for the Old Strathcona Business Association.
He said many of his member businesses set sales records in November, months after turmoil on Wall Street kicked off economic worries.
Some retailers had set December sales records before hitting the end of the month, he added.
"Being that we are a very specialized district ... we don't see that much of a decline for 2009."
He said the small-business, family-owned nature of the area gives businesses a tool for any economic struggle. It gives its businesses flexibility to adapt if consumers change their spending habits, he said.
Source - Edmonton Sun
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