Just a quick post today, lot’s going on!
Some of the employment statistics just came out and the news is pretty optimistic for Alberta. Calgary saw the unemployment rate drop to 6.1% from 6.3% in February. Now the background story is Alberta stayed at the same unemployment rate in March as it was in February at a slightly lower 5.7%.
So Calgary is lagging behind the province, but it does look like there is more activity happening here now. Just to keep everything in perspective, the provincial unemployment rate last year was at 7.4%, so we have seen some major improvements. This decrease over the year was caused by 68,800 new jobs appearing just in Alberta,
Perhaps more important, the overall unemployment rate for Canada is sitting at 7.7%, making things appear pretty darn rosy in our province. Couple this with all the news of more pending labour shortages in the oil patch and $110 oil and it looks like things are finally on track here!
My question for you, what affect do you think this will have on the province over the next few years, and ultimately the price of Real Estate around us?
Combined with the new rules in mortgages from the CMHC and the upcoming Federal election and then next year, the US election, I suspect that the overall housing prices will remain fairly steady right along with interest rates. I think it is a great time to be in the rental industry as migration to Alberta continues along with the realization that a few more people are feeling the squeeze out of home ownership and the new minimum 20% down to purchase a rental means less landlords to choose from, potentially.
Do you think the new rules will affect the average new homeowner or regular home purchaser?
I definitely agree about the rental industry looking like a great opportunity. With increased in-migration we may find more properties actually appearing on the rental market as more people give up selling though. Of course from all indications the extra people coming in may offset that increase as well, still making it look quite rosy!
Bill