Comments on: The 10 Year Canadian Real Estate Boom http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2008/02/22/the-10-year-canadian-real-estate-boom/ Real Estate Blog, Mortgage, and Development News Fri, 19 Mar 2010 18:52:41 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.9.1 hourly 1 By: Jim http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2008/02/22/the-10-year-canadian-real-estate-boom/comment-page-1/#comment-200335 Jim Fri, 25 Apr 2008 18:28:21 +0000 http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2008/02/22/the-10-year-canadian-real-estate-boom/#comment-200335 Well it now seems consensus opinion that the Boom is over in Canada, with even hot western markets seeing large declines in real estate activity. http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/04/17/5316961-cp.html Saskatoon has likely peaked, now that a slumping Edmonton real estate market, with higher average wages (I've heard $85,000 per household in Edmonton versus only $70,000 per household in Saskatoon) has cheaper housing in Edmonton than Saskatoon. Also, there are decreased sales in Saskatoon, and increased available listings in Saskatoon. There may still be diamonds in the rough, e.g. Regina, where houses are about $100,000 cheaper than Saskatoon, but as a Canada wide boom, I'd agree it is over, with the last few strong markets, Calgary, Edmonton having peaked, and Saskatoon now exceeding markets with stronger wages and stronger fundamentals. The one hold back, might be the high rates of crime, including violent crime in Saskatoon and Regina, which while locallized to particular areas of the city, are the highest in the country, www.thebench.ca, and mean real estate in the non-crime ridden areas is even more expensive. A big deal for Saskatoon, as the average including these high crime areas is already more expensive than housing in Edmonton as a whole. Well it now seems consensus opinion that the Boom is over in Canada, with even hot western markets seeing large declines in real estate activity.
http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Canada/2008/04/17/5316961-cp.html
Saskatoon has likely peaked, now that a slumping Edmonton real estate market, with higher average wages (I’ve heard $85,000 per household in Edmonton versus only $70,000 per household in Saskatoon) has cheaper housing in Edmonton than Saskatoon. Also, there are decreased sales in Saskatoon, and increased available listings in Saskatoon. There may still be diamonds in the rough, e.g. Regina, where houses are about $100,000 cheaper than Saskatoon, but as a Canada wide boom, I’d agree it is over, with the last few strong markets, Calgary, Edmonton having peaked, and Saskatoon now exceeding markets with stronger wages and stronger fundamentals.

The one hold back, might be the high rates of crime, including violent crime in Saskatoon and Regina, which while locallized to particular areas of the city, are the highest in the country, http://www.thebench.ca, and mean real estate in the non-crime ridden areas is even more expensive. A big deal for Saskatoon, as the average including these high crime areas is already more expensive than housing in Edmonton as a whole.

]]> By: Don Johnson http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2008/02/22/the-10-year-canadian-real-estate-boom/comment-page-1/#comment-170808 Don Johnson Fri, 22 Feb 2008 21:44:34 +0000 http://www.therealestatebloggers.com/2008/02/22/the-10-year-canadian-real-estate-boom/#comment-170808 Interesting. There was a <a href="http://www.canada.com/victoriatimescolonist/news/business/story.html?id=71aa9985-3106-4d6d-9c83-febf51ebe16f" rel="nofollow">story</a> in our local paper, the Victoria Times-Colonist today that referenced the same report. Our prices here have exceeded the national average making Victoria one of the most expensive cities in Canada in which to live. I noticed your other post referencing restrictive zoning coming into play in the price of real estate. I believe that is one of the factors at play in Victoria (and British Columbia) real estate generally running ahead of the rest of the country. We had the misfortune of some socialist governments a few years ago. They put in place a province-wide restriction on development called the Agricultural Land Reserve. That forces the development into marginal land (rocky, steep, costly to develop) and into redevelopment of existing residential stock (i.e., increasing density, high rises, etc.). In addition, in Victoria we have a limited supply anyway because we are on the end of Vancouver Island with a steep mountain range cutting us off from the rest of the Island ... result: one of the most expensive cities in Canada in which to live. Regards Don Johnson Jer 33.3 Interesting. There was a story in our local paper, the Victoria Times-Colonist today that referenced the same report.

Our prices here have exceeded the national average making Victoria one of the most expensive cities in Canada in which to live.

I noticed your other post referencing restrictive zoning coming into play in the price of real estate. I believe that is one of the factors at play in Victoria (and British Columbia) real estate generally running ahead of the rest of the country. We had the misfortune of some socialist governments a few years ago. They put in place a province-wide restriction on development called the Agricultural Land Reserve. That forces the development into marginal land (rocky, steep, costly to develop) and into redevelopment of existing residential stock (i.e., increasing density, high rises, etc.). In addition, in Victoria we have a limited supply anyway because we are on the end of Vancouver Island with a steep mountain range cutting us off from the rest of the Island … result: one of the most expensive cities in Canada in which to live.

Regards
Don Johnson
Jer 33.3

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