New construction in Sylvan Lake last year peaked to a total not seen in the past five years with residential homes leading the way.
Permits were issued for a total of $54.2 million in construction, up just over 37 per cent from the previous year.
Residential construction was $36.8 million in 2012 and accounted for almost 68 per cent of the value of all permits issued. Of that total, $14 million was for multiple housing buildings which included 95 units.
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OTTAWA — Even as a major world lender dealt another blow to an early turnaround in the global economy, Canada’s finance minister was playing the calm card.
Jim Flaherty sought to quell concerns Wednesday of an economic downturn in this country, adding that the government is still on track to balance its budget and additional fiscal stimulus would not be needed.
As for worries of a housing crash, he said a recent cooling of the market is actually “a healthy thing.”
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CALGARY — Every housing category in Calgary’s resale market, including surrounding towns, is expected to see continued sales and price growth this year, according to the latest Calgary Real Estate Board annual forecast which was released Wednesday.
But the rate of growth will moderate.
Overall, CREB said total MLS sales in the city would jump by 2.2 per cent in 2013 to 21,669 transactions while the average benchmark price would rise by 2.9 per cent to $392,469.
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On the northwest edge of Airdrie, across the street from a construction site where this week cement mixers were hard at work, a little public school welcomed its first young students in November.
It was a much-anticipated opening. In the weeks pre-ceding, the kindergarten to Grade 4 students had been housed at the headquarters of the Rocky View school district. Until the new school was ready, there simply wasn’t any other space available.
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EDMONTON – New neighbourhoods in Edmonton’s southwest are attracting so many residents that the public school district must change ward boundaries to rebalance population numbers, says a report to school trustees.
Otherwise, trustees will have to change the rules about how ward populations are distributed.
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There are no bounces, no bubbles and no bursts to be expected in the Capital region’s housing market this year, says Darrell Cook, president of the Realtors Association of Edmonton.
“The real estate market in Edmonton and the region will remain stable and steady,” Cook told some 700 realtors and business people Wednesday at the association’s annual housing forecast seminar.
Cook said average prices of single-family homes in the Edmonton region are expected to increase by two per cent in 2013, rising from $382,829 to $390,020.
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St. Albert needs to change how it acquires land for city purposes if it wants to be ready to provide services to a larger population, council heard on Monday.
With St. Albert expected to reach a population of 100,000 by the year 2043, the city needs to start planning for the amount of land it will need for its own uses to make up for a current shortfall, explained director of economic development Guy Boston.
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EDMONTON – Despite leading the country in employment, a steady stream of migrants and still-enviable economic growth, the Realtors Association of Edmonton forecasts “restrained” growth in the local resale housing market for 2013.
The prices of single-family MLS homes in the Edmonton region will increase on average by two per cent to $390,020 from $382,373, according to the group’s annual forecast released Wednesday at a seminar.
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Mayor Norm Boucher made his case that City Hall had a productive 2012 and is poised to complete a number of key initiatives in the coming months, but some attendees of the annual State of the City on Tuesday say that Medicine Hat needs a more cohesive vision for future growth and development.
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The latest Royal LePage report on Canadian real-estate shows average housing prices were up between two and four per cent in the fourth quarter of 2012 compared with the same time last year.
However, the same survey shows average prices for the three main categories of housing were down from the third quarter of 2012 — a period that included new mortgage rules that have discouraged many first-time buyers.
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