Foreign migrants keeping bloom on Wild Rose

NEW HOMES
Breaking news at calgaryherald.com
Saturday, November 15, 2008
I9
Foreign migrants keeping bloom on Wild Rose
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Recent jump
‘bodes well’ for
house spending
T
he simple fact people still
want to move to Alberta provides some badly needed upbeat news for the province’s reeling
new and resale housing industries.
Recently, two reports have predicted healthy levels of net in-migration to the province for this year
and next, with more international
immigrants hanging their hats here
than Canadians moving from other
provinces — so sayeth the Royal
Bank of Canada (RBC) and Canada
Mortgage and Housing Corp.
Overall, the Royal’s forecast for
the Wild Rose province is for a
cooling-down period — not that
that should come as a surprise to
anyone seeing as how we’re already
hip deep in it.
“Booming economies eventually
AA704567
OUT OF TOWN
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for information about quick possessions
in our other fine communities
SOUTHEAST
MARTY
HOPE
run up against resource constraints
and must contend with imbalances
that cause the expansion to slow. Alberta is a case in point,” the bank
says in its most recent provincial
outlook.
Guess you could say we have become a victim of our own successes.
Then again, Alberta has a long history of wild economic rides.
Then again, many of today’s home
buyers and consumers were just kids
— or weren’t even around yet —
when the last one clobbered us so
they don’t know how to respond.
Like those other times, housing is
usually the first and most visible
sign of the cool-down.
SOUTHEAST
Prices and sales are reined in as
potential buyers crunch numbers
more closely before deciding to sign
on the dotted line.
Construction of new homes has
dropped in response to reduced sales
and, here again, some price tags are
snipped or incentives offered to get
potential customers in show home
doors.
But it’s not just housing that is feeling the impact of consumer hesitancy. Big-ticket items like automobile sales are off, too.
It must be remembered, though,
that comparisons regarding housing
are iffy given that 2006 and part of
2007 were setting sales records.
As the Royal report states: “Although the level of economic activity
remains very high, growth has
slowed considerably this year.”
In the midst of this clouded outlook then pops out this one ray of
sunshine.
In 2007, just over 42,000 folks settled in Alberta, says CMHC.
By the time this year is out, the
province will welcome another
56,000, up 29 per cent from a year
ago — then that total will slip back to
51,000 in 2009.
“International immigrants will
strongly outnumber those from
other provinces as businesses look
to other countries to meet their
labour requirements,” says CMHC’s
fourth-quarter housing market outlook.
RBC is just as bullish.
“The recent jump in net in-migration into Alberta, especially international in-migration, bodes well for a
pickup in consumer spending — and
housing,” says the report.
“It might also help reduce bottlenecks at major construction projects
and promote growth in capital
spending. Consequently, 2009
growth is expected to re-accelerate.”
Hard numbers from CMHC show
that only Ontario and B.C. will see
higher levels of net migration than
Alberta for the next two years.
As for the housing industry, new
starts will total 29,750 this year and
then, thanks to a major drop in multifamily demand, will decline to
24,000 in 2009.
This year’s breakdown sees 14,500
detached starts and 15,250 multi-family units. For 2009, the numbers are
15,000 and 9,000, respectively.
On the resale side, 59,500 homes
will change hands this year at an average price of $353,500, then climb
in ’09 to 61,000 sales and an average
of $356,000.
MHOPE@THEHERALD.CANWEST.COM
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AA704572
includes lot & GST
AA706595
Visit our website www.lifestylehomes.ca
for information about quick possessions
in our other fine communities
Call: 257-7940
www.rightplacerighttime.ca
Courtesy, Stride Management
AA708617
From left, Steve Stretch, director of the Alberta Children’s Hospital
Foundation Board; Cal Wenzel, president of Shane Homes; Marcello
Chiacchia, general manager Calgary of Genstar Development Co.; Don
Fisherman, chairman of the 2008 Kinsmen Children’s Hospital Home
Lotto; and Bob Lang, chairman of the Kinsmen Care Foundation.
Hospital gets $1.8 million
CALGARY HERALD
It’s a record — and the winners are
the children of southern Alberta.
More than $1.8 million was recently
donated to the Alberta Children’s Hospital Foundation, the result of the lat-
AA706589
NORTHWEST
Pillars of Royal Oak
AA706597
AA706596
Mirage Spec Home
2194 sq. Ft.
161 Royal Oak Heath N.W.
$549,900
3 bedrooms/
2.5 baths
Open concept
kitchen/dining
& geat room
Gas fireplace
Hardwood and
Tile floors
Granite
countertops
Rear Deck
Stainless steel
appliances
Immediate Possession
Includes House, Lot and GST
101 Copperstone Close
Corner Lot
3 Bedrooms, Flex Bonus Room
est Kinsmen Children’s Hospital
Home Lotto — the largest donation
in the 15-year history of the successful
lottery.
The money will go toward a new
MEG scanner for the Alberta Children’s Hospital — the only one of its
kind in Western Canada.
The MEG is crucial to the diagnosis,
treatment and research of illnesses
like epilepsy, cancer, stroke and learning disability.
Shane Homes has been the major
donor to the charity since its inception, building the grand-prize homes
for the lottery since it launched in
1993.
Cal Wenzel, founder and president
of Shane Homes, was given a plaque
reflecting the $21,404,153.20 the lottery
has raised in that time.
SELL YOUR VEHICLE FAST!
every Wednesday in the
AA704569
Call Dave Porcu at (403) 226-0484 or
Visit the showhome at 14 Royal Oak Park N.W.
AA706582
SOUTHEAST
AA706594
Visit our website www.lifestylehomes.ca
for information about quick possessions
in our other fine communities
AA706593
Auburn Bay
section
To place your AutoFocus ad call 235-7355
SOUTHWEST
26 Auburn Bay Manor SE
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P. 403.720.6111 E. auburnbay@morrisonhomes.ca
17 Auburn Sound Green SE
www.rightplacerighttime.ca
$699,900
P. 403.720.6111 E. auburnbay@morrisonhomes.ca
AA708506
$749,900
SPEARGRASS-CARSELAND
AA706592
includes lot & GST
11 Auburn Sound Green SE
OUT OF TOWN
Visit our website www.lifestylehomes.ca
for information about quick possessions
in our other fine communities
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$336,800
AA693894
AA704570
QUICK
POSSESSION
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Call: 726-1185
auburnbay@heartland-homes.com
AA708618
Auburn Bay
70 Auburn Bay View SE
3 Bronte / +96. !%- $K-0
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$374,400
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for information about quick possessions
in our other fine communities
www.rightplacerighttime.ca
Call: 726-1185
auburnbay@heartland-homes.com
AA708616
AA706586
AA706591
AA704568
AA704571
includes lot & GST
Visit our website www.lifestylehomes.ca
for information about quick possessions
in our other fine communities