Wal-Mart doubling Alberta supercentres-"Alberta is a wonderful part of the country . . . and it's a wonderful place to do business,"  "It's always been one of our strongest markets." "your economy has been booming for a long time and with that strong economy it means even more growth and more demand for general merchandise and food." Andrew Pelletier, vice-president of corporate affairs for Wal-Mart Canada "This mean more jobs for Albertans"

Alberta Avenue gets a facelift - Alberta Avenue, the 27-block stretch of 118th Avenue north of downtown, is getting a facelift. Crews are beginning work on "streetscaping" five blocks of the avenue, putting in new road surfaces, new and wider sidewalks, new trees and better lighting. "Prices are sure to rise in this area as the gentrification starts"

Alberta can handle oil-price drop: economist - Companies are investing very prudently right now and can still make good money at $70 a barrel," said Peter Hall, economics vice-president of Export Development Canada. "So they are making great money at $124 a barrel."

Looking for a great job? - “I see a lot of newcomers to Edmonton and I can usually place them with immediate work in construction or other areas. And a temporary placement often results in a permanent position.”

An increasing demand for workers who are based in Edmonton but who will work for employers that fly them in and out of work sites in northern Alberta or the Territories, where the labour shortage is even more severe, is being felt as well.

Edmonton still a housing bargain - "Housing prices have softened a little in the past few months, but recent figures show the average home in Edmonton is selling for $353,000. According to MLS listings, in Greater Vancouver a similar home sells for $581,000 and in Toronto, homeowners are paying $366,000. Calgary is considerably higher at $436,000. Rents vary widely, too, with Vancouver advertising one-bedroom apartments at $1,500 a month and up, and Toronto offering a similar suite for $1,250 plus utilities. Meanwhile in Edmonton, a one-bedroom apartment just west of downtown can be obtained for $895 per month on a one-year lease." As the journalist points out Edmonton is an incredible bargain compared to other major Canadian centers.

Crumbling roads getting $1.9B patch -"Our goal is to complete all of the Calgary and Edmonton ring roads by 2015, and I'm very confident that we'll reach that goal." As more and more funds are put into infrastructure Alberta is becoming increasingly well prepared to handle substantial growth.

Canada and Austria have most undervalued real estate markets -The World Economic Outlook (WEO) presents the IMF staff's analysis and projections of economic developments at the global level, in major country groups (classified by region, stage of development, etc.), and in many individual countries.  Alberta's property market is the most balanced in Canada so where else should you invest?

Alberta rush
The hottest housing market in North America, driven by oil - Canada has rather rapidly become the largest supplier of oil to the U.S. Alberta is producing more than 1 million barrels of so-called synthetic oil a day, and the province is sitting atop the largest petroleum deposit outside the Arabian Peninsula (as much as 300 billion recoverable barrels).
As a result, the economy of Alberta since 2002 has been growing an average 12.2% annually. That's not far from China's average, 14.8 %. In the past decade, Alberta's per-capita GDP has almost doubled, to $66,000.
Demand for labor is so intense that Alberta has basically run out of people. Fast-food emporiums, for example, are closing down because managers cannot find folks willing to work for their modest wages.

Edmonton investment property values are slow now because the market is balancing out, within a year to 18 months we can expect property values to increase again. 
 

Surging West leaves rural image behind -The four western provinces are moving beyond their frontier pasts and are becoming increasingly urbanized -- and are now set to attract up to three million more people through interprovincial and international moves in the next 25 years, according to a new report.

"Quite a bit of activity in Canada has shifted to the West," said Brett Gartner, senior economist for the Canada West Foundation and author of the State of the West.  "The image of tumbleweeds blowing down city streets has never been more wrong.  Alberta is a growing province that is attracting all the young educated minds of our country."

Climate doesn't hinge on Alberta - The reason nobody except a handful of academics, self-serving lobbyists and publicity-seeking politicians cares about this issue is that Canada produces slightly more than 2.5 per cent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions.

That's right. When it comes to big time emitters we rank . . . oh let's see, we pretty much don't rank.

Let's talk about carbon dioxide, one of the most pernicious greenhouse gases and the current cause celebre with the environmental lobby.

The U.S. and China produce slightly more than 40 per cent of the world's annual carbon dioxide emissions. Our production numbers rank light years behind both of those countries and well behind industrial giants such as Russia, India, Japan and Germany.  "The oilsands are not major polluters in the world and our government is very proactive in cleaning their emissions and their image up."

Alberta will top Ontario's Economy: TD -"Alberta will beat Ontario in economic performance by a wide margin this year, TD Bank Financial Group predicted Wednesday.

Ontario economic growth will be an anemic one-half of one per cent this year while Alberta gains two per cent, said a new forecast by the bank's economists."

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Brain drain sends surge of post-secondary grads to Alberta: 2006 - " From the prestigious halls of Oxford University, Patrick MacDonald considered more than a few attractive offers on where to start his career as a research scientist.

There was a job in southe Ontario, near his boyhood home and his extended family, where he eaed his doctorate and undergraduate degrees. And there were offers in ruggedly beautiful Vancouver and trendy Montreal.

But in the end he chose to bring his wife and two young children to Edmonton.

Lured by opportunity and quality of life, MacDonald is one of a growing number of Canadian professionals who are moving to Alberta.

New Statistics Canada figures show that along with tradespeople, there has been a huge surge of post-secondary school graduates coming to the province."  An influx of highly skilled professionals will bolster rentals and those who decide they love the Edmonton lifestyle will eventually purchase homes there.

Thermal Energy sells steam trap to Alberta oil and gas company - "We believe our solutions such as the GEM steam traps, which virtually eliminate steam system leakage and greatly reduce trap maintenance, can play an instrumental role in reducing the cost of energy production in the Alberta oil industry by making steam systems more efficient."

"The system will reduce the amount of water used for every barrel of oil produced by its client, with permanent energy savings of 10 to 30 per cent and up to 50-per-cent savings in the cost of steam production over traditional steam traps."  There is always new technology that will reduce the oilsands environmental impact.

Alberta leads in jobs growth, census reports - "Alberta also had the highest share of labour force - 8.6 per cent - that had lived in other parts of Canada five years earlier. An estimated 160,500 people had moved to the province since 2001."  Most of the new Albertans are earning excellent salaries and looking to make this province their home for the long-term.

Premier wants Alberta's green image polished- "Premier Ed Stelmach has ordered his environment minister to polish Alberta's green image so people here and internationally are convinced of the government's "leadership, commitment and action" on environmental stewardship."  Alberta oil sands will be environmentally forward and reduce emissions as production increases.

Staff shortages hit nursing homes-"Five-hundred to 600 additional health care aides are needed in the Edmonton area to properly staff nursing homes and alleviate the space crunch in hospitals, a Capital Health Region spokesman says." Alberta's biggest shortfall will be getting enough laborers to fulfill the needs of this super hot economy.

Real estate affordability to improve, experts say-"Housing affordability is likely to improve this year as house-price growth eases and falling interest rates make mortgages cheaper, economists say." Alberta's affordability is still excellent among other Canadian provinces. 

Real estate values returning to normal-"The market went through a couple years of extremely volatile growth but the numbers are starting to return to normal. Real estate is still a good investment," The market is becoming balanced and with our strong economic fundamentals Alberta Real Estate is an excellent investment.

Ignorance a great pitfall in real estate investment-"If you don't have a long-term outlook, don't invest in real estate, go buy gold or stocks and roll your dice. You have to make real estate boring, because that means you're doing it right. Go jump out of an airplane with a parachute if you want excitement. Right now I am telling everybody to buy resale, to buy something built in 1997 or 1998, when there wasn't a frenzy and people had the time to finish the properties." Don R. Campbell

Real estate matches stocks as investment-"Never before have we seen such a continuous run-up in Canadian real estate. Clearly, strength in all markets has been directly linked to solid growth in local, provincial and national economies. Low interest rates, job security, and consumer confidence have all served to further bolster homebuying activity across the nation." Thinking long-term is the best way to invest in real estate looking for quick money will help you finding quick trouble.


Vancouver no longer tops real estate hot list-
"The report compares Vancouver to other cities such as Edmonton, where home prices have shot up a whopping 203 per cent in the past decade to $339,000, or red hot Calgary where prices have shot up 187 per cent to $414,000, or even hotter Kelowna with a rise of 178 per cent to $497,000." Edmonton has a strong economy to back it's price increases.

The Edmonton - Calgary Corridor in Alberta, Canada presents investors with the most dynamic and growth oriented regions in North America. Everyday local and national press focus on the “Alberta Advantage”. Also read a wealth of viewpoints regarding economic and real estate news put forward by industry pundits, joualists and experts alike.