Commercial and residential financing are two different animals. The dividing line is often as simple as that between buying a simple four-plex and something just a bit bigger. That bit bigger changes all the rules. If you are buying an eight-plex, that means you are in the market for a commercial mortgage. Many investors don’t find this out until they are already into a property deal.
So far 2011 has been an iffy year for domestic tourism in Canada. During the second quarter of this year, tourism spending dropped by 0.1 percent. Before that, the industry saw seven quarters of steady gains. Statistics Canada also noted that most of the spending was coming from foreign visitors.
Planning on moving to Alberta anytime soon? You are not alone. The attraction of plentiful, well paying jobs, lower housing costs and having more disposable income is causing many people across the country to pull up roots and move West, or East for that matter.
Concerns are growing about the amount of legal fees associated with Edmonton’s proposed Oilers arena, a project that has yet to see initiation. To date, some $1.15 million has been allocated to lawyers and consultants.
Resale housing in Edmonton rebounded versus a year ago in August, but prices registered a tiny decrease. Per a September 10 report issued by the Realtors Association of Edmonton, the number of single-family homes sold rose from 813 to 969. The average sales price in this home category was $370,438, a 0.2-percent slip versus August 2010.
The trend across most of Canada has been a decrease in the number of smokers lighting up. Not so in Alberta, and the trend has provincial government officials shaking their heads. Governmental minds want to know the cause, and what would be the best cure.
Canada’s economy and investment picture is far healthier than that in the United States. During the first quarter of 2011, the country posted a 0.9 percent increase in the GDP. The second quarter did show a 0.1 percent decrease but that was due to a 2.1 percent decrease in exported items. Domestic demand actually went up 0.7 percent. In June, the monthly GDP for industry went up 0.2 percent.
August 28th marked the 20th anniversary of Ukrainian independence. That is a big deal in Edmonton, considering that the city is home to a large population of Ukrainians that fled the country while it was still under Soviet rule. And in true Ukrainian fashion, that anniversary was celebrated with music, dance, song and plenty of food.
Does weather affect real estate sales? Roughly two in five agents in the business think so. Not only the obvious impacts such as major flooding or tornadic activity, but just run of the mill stuff seen throughout the year in Canada. In winter that usually means snow, and in summer the temperatures tend to climb into the stratosphere in some places.
Workers in Edmonton have the shortest commute times in the country. The average for the city is 23 minutes. Calgary comes in with a 26 minute commute, which is also the national average. The longest average commute is in Toronto, at 33 minutes. Average for commuters in mid-sized metro centres worked out to be 25 minutes.
