WHAT’S HAPPENIN’ IN CALGARY?
It’s Stampede baby! Chucks, cows, horses, bulls, parades, rides, treats and a whole lot of foolin’ around! Oh yes, and the typical storms rolling through, just to add to the mayhem and shenanigans. Hotels are over 90% booked, restaurants are anticipating a fabulous weekend of good weather and good profits. Parties and visitors and tourists are everywhere. Is anyone working? Haha, some businesses call their parties networking!
But it’s time for our monthly roundup, so here we go!
- The most recent GDP predictions for Alberta (that we’ve seen), put this province easily above the national averages for growth with an expectation of 2.7% growth in 2023. https://economics.td.com/provincial-economic-forecast.
- Alberta’s unemployment rate is steady at 5.7% (May and June), as is Calgary’s unemployment rate at 6.3% (May and June). A deeper look reveals that Alberta continues to have high job vacancies: Alberta employment is now 6.7% higher than pre-COVID levels (February 2020) compared to 4.9% nationally. https://www.atb.com/company/insights/the-owl/atb-economics-weekly-wrap-july-7-2023/.
- Population growth is a big story ‘round here. Alberta is growing faster than the national average: At 1.2% compared to 0.7%, Alberta’s first-quarter growth rate outpaced the national average. That includes a net inter-provincial migration of another 15,786 people. Our provincial population is up 4.5% from last year! (for perspective, the national population growth rate over the year is 3.1%. We haven’t grown this much since 1981. https://www.atb.com/company/insights/the-owl/atb-economics-weekly-wrap-july-7-2023/. Also see the ATB weekly insights from June 30.
- So the province and the city are seeing economic growth, job growth and population growth, is it any wonder that rental housing and the housing market are continuing to see a supply vs +++ demand issue?
- The national rental averages were up another 6.5% in May—this is actually the slowest growth since December of 2021, so kind of a good thing?! Calgary’s rental prices were up 13.5% for a one bedroom, 14.5% for a 2 bedroom. https://rentals.ca/national-rent-report.
- As for real estate, the story continues to be about incredibly tight supply. Calgary has less than 1.1 month of supply of any housing product, an average of 22 Days on market, and a Benchmark price that continues to rise. Seller’s market is an understatement, multiple offers are becoming “normal.” We’ve lost track of how many records are being broken now. https://www.creb.com/News/CREBNow/2023/July/Another_record-high_month_for_Calgary. Even apartments/condominiums are making a comeback – but it should be noted, those prices are still below the 2014 peak. Yup, you read that right.
- Is it all doom and gloom if we want to find an investment property or put a roof over our heads? Well, Calgary’s overall affordability is at 43% of a household’s median income. For perspective, Vancouver is at 96.1%, Toronto is at 79% and Montreal is at 51.9%. We’re not the best here in Cowtown, but we’re far from the worst! https://thoughtleadership.rbc.com/homeownership-costs-dip-a-welcome-shift-but-no-game-changer.
- Just for fun, Calgary has also been ranked 7th in the Economist Intelligence Unit’s (EIU) 2023 Global Liveability Index. Vancouver is number 5, and Toronto is number 9, so Canada has 3 of the Top 10 most liveable cities! https://globalnews.ca/news/9787103/canada-most-liveable-cities-top-10-2023.
Anyone read or listened to the audio of Matthew McConaughey’s Greenlights? There sure are a lot of green lights for investors in Calgary these days! The trick is getting a winning bid!
