Welcome to my Edmonton Listing Blog!  I offer information on the Edmonton area home market in this section, including useful tips and reports on market conditions.

I like to try and keep my clients up to date on market conditions within my blog. Hope you find it useful as a resource, if you’d like to chat about any of the entries please feel free to call me on (780) 893-0177 - Armin

Edmonton Listing Blog - Tuesday, March 2, 2010 - Unhappy With Investments? Make Changes but do so With Caution

Even before the start of the 2008 global recession, many people have not been satisfied with the performance of their investment portfolios, and sometimes, their financial advisors.  Investment vehicles can be re-evaluated and changed, as can advisors.  However, these changes should be made with care to avoid similar outcomes, as well as excessive fees.

It is certainly possible to “fire” an advisor, whether that means getting a different employee within the same investment firm, or hiring another independent.  If you switch advisers in the same company, you may be likely to receive the same advice, as investment companies often urge their brokers to sell certain products at any given time.  

To change companies completely, you can transfer funds from the old firm, and this can often be done via phone, Internet or mail.  You will probably receive a sales pitch from your former broker, urging you to stay with the company.  You may be required to remit commissions on the transfers, and pay a deferred-sales charge to transfer certain mutual funds that have been in you possession for less than seven years.  Expect the transition to take a number of weeks before you see the money in your new accounts.

A common complaint is that RRSP returns have been skimpy, and investors have been inquiring about alternate investment opportunities.  However, that return will be significantly higher upon retirement: If a person claims an RRSP deduction whilst in the 32-percent tax bracket, and that person withdraws the money upon retiring (scaling down to the 25-percent bracket), the return grows to seven percent via the combination of tax savings on the upfront contribution, as well as overall growth. 

Edmonton Listing Blog - Tuesday, February 2, 2010 - Deserted Puppies Saved by Local Girls

When Anna Schneider, and her sister, Lena came across an ad on a popular classified website called Kijiji which begged residents around the Camrose area to search near the local dump to find a litter of abandoned puppies.  The girls immediately decided that they must find the puppies before the dogs became victims of the harsh winter.

Aparently the woman who posted the plea was only able to take in two of the dogs, she was forced to leave the rest of them, but knew she would do what ever it took to have someone come for them.

Anna and Lena has to trek through knee-high snow for four days before they were able to find the puppies.  They said they sound the puppies near a bale of hay in a random field.  When they found the dogs, the mother was injured and hostile.  The puppies, which the girls were so happy and surprised to see alive, took them home immediately.

The returned for the mother the following day, and the girls took all the dogs to be examined and vaccinated for free at the Camrose Animal Clinic.  The vet, Dr. Richard Bibby said he was very happy that the girls took such care with finding the dogs.  The mother has been adopted, and the two female puppies are already promised to homes.  The two male puppies are still available for adoption.

Edmonton Listing Blog - Wednesday, January 25, 2010 - Subsidized Housing Causing a Problem

Residents in McCauley want the city to end the subsidized housing program that has practically ruined their community. They say the problem is so bad that it threatens to ruin the entire community.  Over fifty percent of the housing units in the area are subsidized, which is the highest percent ratio of subsidized housing in Edmonton.

In adjoining Boyle Street community, another 1,400 subsidized units exist, making the area swamped with one in five of Edmonton's subsidized housing units.  President of the local community league says that the concentration of subsidized homes is creating an unhealthy environment and prevents the community from growing naturally.

Residents and home owners are dreading the closure of the Alberta Hospital, and the negative financial effects the community will feel.  They believe it is an injustice that the poorest and most vulnerable community suffer more hardships.

While locals believe that helping the homeless return to functioning members of society is important, they just want the city to plan the process better, and create a longer-term plan for the homes they give to the poor and downtrodden.  The local leaders believe that the city simply dumps all of the poor, homeless people in a concentrated community to keep them isolated.

City officials do recognize the build up of subsidized housing in the area as a problem, and they say they will take action to plan better regarding subsidized housing.

Edmonton Listing Blog - Wednesday, January 13, 2010 - Big Bang Wakes the Neighbourhood, Exposes Possible Drug Lab

Neighbours near 1404 Latta Crescent got a big surprise around 9:30 pm on Sunday when the garage door at that address blew off its hinges. The cause is allegedly attributed to a hash oil operation, which uses a heat source to manufacture this derivative of marijuana. In this case the heat source is suspected to be butane which exploded with a bang loud enough to be heard throughout the area.

Once the garage was deemed safe, police officials sealed off the home as a crime scene to await the issue of a search warrant. Drug and gang investigators then entered and found evidence of the alleged drug manufacturing operation. Search of the property continued into the following afternoon.

A woman, aged 20 and a man, aged 31 are facing charges of possession and producing of a controlled substance as well as trafficking of that substance. A mischief charge was also laid. Two other men who fled the scene are being sought. Police have an idea who they are looking for according to responding Detective Calvin Mah.

Neighbours, some of whom helped pull the damaged garage door down, were surprised at the alleged drug lab so close to home. But many agreed, this sort of operation can take root anywhere. 

Edmonton Listing Blog - Saturday, December 12, 2009 - New Budget Plan Passes Unanimously

One of the strictest budgets that the city of Edmonton has seen in 25 years was passed by the council recently.  Because of the recessionary times in which the country finds itself, the 2010 budget not only calls for over $50 million in service cost cuts, there will be a five percent tax increase for the city.
 
Council member Jane Batty proclaims that although the budget seems harsh, it will actually help Edmonton by creating services that are affordable to everyone during the financially tough times.  City manager, Al Maurer, mentioned that its the tightest financial squeeze since the early 1980s.  He plans to retire next year.  The budget is not ideal, but it will not send shock waves through the system either.  It is fair and balanced, claims members of the council.  For an owner of an average priced home, they will pay no more than an extra $200.  The tax hike is modest.

Obviously the budget was not that out of line because it passed approval unanimously.

Edmonton Listing Blog - Wednesday, November 18, 2009 - The 5% Cap or Exceeding Expectations: What Will It Be?

There’s a rising concern over reducing critical municipal services in the city of Edmonton as city officials and/or politician began crunching budget numbers for the upcoming year. This comes on the heels of a 5% cap imposed upon the following year’s hike in property taxes and based upon the prediction of Councilman Don Iveson it would probably take a miracle to ensure low figures while at the same time avoiding the neglect of city service. I predict this will cause fiddling around with the self-imposed tax ceiling.

Iveson believes that this is an excellent place to begin but based upon recent history, it’s virtually impossible to not have cutbacks in the police department and possibly other areas in which council won’t be ready to cut; therefore, additions will be carefully placed. We’ve already witnessed cases where the administration has began to cut back on the hours of employees in local facilities while at the same time increasing user fees in hopes that it will reduce the hit upon homeowners.

While all of this is taking place in the civilian life, city cops are making their presence felt by putting a hold on hiring officers and the Edmonton Public Library are suggesting they may very well cutting hours as well and if push comes to shove, they may even close a branch or two in order to meet certain restrictions.

In the event the council does maintain the status quo (5% cap), homeowners could see that increase in property taxes by $70 in 2010 and this doesn’t include the utilities that will be used to meet the proposed $1.4 billion outlined in the financial statement. The fact of the matter is that, immediately following the release of the budget statement, council must be geared up for deliberation to address these issues or concerns. From what I gather, it would be virtually impossible or ridiculous to try and sweep these issues under the rug; they must be addressed regardless of the possibility of exceeding the 5% cap. Although some politicians and government officials may consider that 5% to be the cutoff point, there’s always the possibility of exceeding these limits.

Edmonton Listing Blog - Wednesday, November 4, 2009 - Hot Real Estate Market Getting Even Hotter

While the stats don’t show the trend just quite yet, many in the Real Estate market are seeing the signs of a hot market becoming even hotter. This is a trend that seems to be happening all over Canada. In the latest number from the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) it shows that there is just a lack of supply for new homes as the demand is surpassing the supply, this is making an already hot market catch on fire.

CREA Said Tuesday that simply put the supply is not able to keep up with the demand. The figures from a year earlier show that there is a 20% increase in the demand for new homes as compared to this time last year. This is a problem that is being seen and felt all over Canada as supply is not able to keep up with the demand for new homes. Every major city in Canada has seen at least a 25% increase in demand from the previous years.

These days homes are just being snatched off the market almost as quickly as they are going on the market. This is a market that is as hot as it has been for years. Many real estate experts feel that this trend could actually go even higher than it already has. CREA Says that the supply and demand situation will probably resolve itself as builders will realize that they have the advantage in the fact that they will be able to set their own prices instead of just taking what they can get from it.

One source with CREA was quoted as saying that at first there was a “logjam situation that is becoming less congested as the market is correcting itself over time.” Other experts expect the trend to continue for another few months, with things slowing down around Thanksgiving since many people will not want their home on the market during the holiday’s.

Many in the real estate industry are pleased to see the market turnaround, as many of them saw the worst market in six years just a few months ago. “Now we are in the hottest market we have had in ten years” one expert said.
There are several factors that will drive a market, and in this recent housing market all the factors have come together in an effort to combine for a boom housing market.

This is the best time to buy a new home as the market is on fire and prices are still at a level that will make it affordable to buy a new home.
 

Edmonton Listing Blog - Tuesday, October 20, 2009 - Single-Family Home Construction Surges in Edmonton

Nearly twice as many single-family homes were built in the Edmonton market in August versus a year ago. Per Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation, construction was initiated on 376 residences, versus 184 housing starts last year. Despite this significant upswing in August, construction for January through August increased only two percent versus 2008. The availability of larger-than-usual quantities of new inventory contributed to sluggish activity during the first quarter.

Edmonton multi-family housing starts continue to be weaker, with work beginning on 184 units in August. This number is down 24 percent versus the same period last year. Through 2009, production started on a total of 1,156 residences in this category, which includes semi-detached town homes and apartments. This number represents a 64 percent decrease versus 2008’s tally of 3,235 homes.

Driven by the rebound in single-family home construction, housing starts for all housing categories surged 32 percent in August over the same period last year. However, total year-to-date new construction starts of 2,922 are down versus 4,972 in the first eight months of last year.
 

Edmonton Listing Blog - Monday, October 5, 2009 - How Are Things Looking In Grande Prairie?

Grand Prairie, Alberta’s real estate market is holding its own in a tough economic climate. There have been an increase in vacancies recently, but local commercial realtors remain optimistic. The retail market had a vacancy rate of 3.68% compared to 1.89% for the same period in 2008. Likewise, commercial space had a vacancy rate of 4.37% compared to 3.68% from 2008.

Grande Prairie has added a considerable amount of available space to its commercial market, including 300,000 square feet of retail space, so taking this into account, the numbers are very good. Single occupancy buildings actually had a decrease in vacancy numbers.

One reason for the decline is the slowdown in the oil and gas industry, a prime investor in this northern city. There has also been considerable relocation from the Richmond Industrial Park to county areas. The downtown core had the highest vacancy rate increase. In 2008 the vacancy rate was 3.11%, compared to 9.23% this year.

Since the survey, one large property at 101st Street and Richmond has been leased and is scheduled to be turned into a wellness centre. The executive director of the Grande Prairie Downtown Association, Helen Rice, is convinced the core will remain the domain of specialty shops that will keep the downtown economy going strong.
 

Edmonton Listing Blog - Friday, September 18, 2009 - Residential Real Estate Recovers

Lower interest rates and increasing consumer confidence are causing an up-tick in housing sales, according to the Canadian Real Estate Association. Alberta is one of the leaders in the escalating recovery in both the number of residential sales and the selling prices.

The association’s current forecast for Alberta calls for a 2.5% drop in MLS residential sales in 2009. As recently as May, the association’s forecast called for a 24.7% decrease this year. The association also forecasts a 10.5% increase in home sales for 2010.
Selling prices are also showing signs of firming. The association predicts that the average sale price in Alberta this year will decrease to $337,300, a 4.4% drop. For 2010, it forecasts an increase in price of 1.7% to $343,200. Its May forecast predicted a price decline of 8.8% this year and a further drop of 1.1% next year.

Low mortgage rates are credited with spurring the resurgence in the home sales market. Government incentives aimed at first-time home buyers are an additional factor in the improvement in the market, the association said. Also, the apparent end of the falling prices is encouraging homebuyers who have been waiting on the sidelines to enter the market and buy.