Edmonton Investment Property

Edmonton International Airport Most Efficient Small Airport in Canada

Edmonton International Airport was just named the most efficient of the small airports in Canada, taking the top honor from Calgary. Between 2001 and 2008, the facility managed to increase its revenue from non-aeronautical tenants and agencies by 144 percent.

This is according to a report released this past Thursday from the Sauder School of Business in British Columbia. Edmonton also placed fifth on the same report among airports in North America that service fewer than 15 million passengers annually. Vancouver took the fifth spot on the same report in the larger airport category.

Having a healthy income stream from sources other than airline tenants helps airports be more efficient. The supplemental income allows airports to decrease landing fees and counter space rental, which makes those facilities more attractive to the air industry. The additional income also keeps the airport afloat during rough economic periods.

Each passenger is charged an airport usage fee on each segment of a flight. Every time that a passenger touches down and/or changes planes, that fee is charged. The lower rates enjoyed by airlines at efficient airports eventually trickles down to the passenger through lower ticket prices and supplemental fees such as this.

Edmonton Investment Property

Edmonton Market at Odds with National Stats

Edmonton was one of only three cities to report an annual decline in new housing prices. Nationally, new housing prices have increased 2.9 per cent year-over-year, but Edmonton’s housing prices have continued to fall since July 2008. Drops have been up to as much as 12 per cent every month when compared to previous year prices.
Charlottetown and Victoria also saw annual new-home declines, 1.6 per cent and 3.9 per cent respectively.

Senior economist Todd Hirsch said Edmonton’s new-home prices rose in the first half of 2010 but expects they will again cool. Buyers rushed to beat rumoured increased interest rates and tighter mortgage restrictions in the first half of 2010, which may have left larger inventory and fewer buyers in the second half.

Still, Edmonton residential building permits rose six per cent in May, a possible sign that more construction may occur in the near future.
On the resale side of Edmonton’s housing market, condo prices fell two per cent from 2009’s second quarter to $199,667. Two-storey homes rose 5.9 per cent to $347,914 and bungalows rose 6.2 per cent to $320,857.

Nationally, housing prices rose in May by 0.3 per cent, the eleventh straight month of price increases. Edmonton prices remained steady, while Regina prices increased 3.4 per cent, Oshawa and Toronto prices rose 0.7 per cent and Calgary prices rose 0.3 per cent.

Edmonton Investment Property

Canada May Have New News Network Come January 1st

It looks like Canada will be getting a new television news outlet. It appears this new Sun News might be modelled after the controversial Fox News found south of the border. Perhaps not as radical, but it is a given that the new network would love to have Fox News’ ratings. Certainly it promises more lively coverage and debate than provided by mainstay CBC. There might even be a bit of right wing conversation wafting over the airwaves.

The vice president of the proposed network, Kory Teneycke is promising to take on the issues of political correctness, and from the sounds of it, the opinions of journalists in its competing markets. The actual format is still under wraps, but rumour is that it will be a combination of the aforementioned Fox News and Quebec’s French Language station the LCN. Considering that the parent company of this new station is Quebecor Media that is not much of a surprise.

The launch date for the network is January 1st. All of this depends on whether Sun News will get regulatory approval. Apparently that is a very big if.

Edmonton Investment Property

Edmonton Landlord Fined For Providing Substandard Housing To Tenants

Sarra Real Estate Ltd. and its owner Suresh Agarwal faced charges that he violated the Public Health Act’s housing regulations. He was accused of leaving tenants without heat in temperatures that dipped to minus 13C, not providing them with hot water and in general providing an unhealthy living situation.

The first complaints dated back to 2003 when tenants advised of no hot water for a three week period in August of that year. Inspectors have visited the building a number of times in the past few years. They found violations such as windows with exterior security bars that could not be opened from the inside, mould in kitchen cupboards and plumbing issues. There was also a laundry room reeking of urine and windows and doors that could not be closed or locked.

The fine for the negligence was $20,125. Agarwal pleaded guilty to the charges which somewhat mollified prosecutor Rob O’Neill. The prosecutor did note that it was a sad state of affairs that the courts had to force the defendant to make his nine unit apartment liveable.

In his defence, Agarwal’s lawyer Jessica Flanders advised the court that the building is in one of the city’s roughest neighbourhoods where property is not always respected. She also noted that if the tenants could not pay rent that at times it was difficult to keep up with the utility payments.

Edmonton Investment Property

China Makes Big Splash With World Expo 2010 As Edmonton Contemplates Bid for 2017 Venue

Edmonton wants the World Expo to come to town in 2017. The city is planning on bidding for the honour, citing an energy and sustainability theme. But taking a look at Shanghai’s World Expo 2010 that just opened May 1st has been an eye opening experience for the city’s mayor, Stephen Mandel.

China’s offering covers 5.28 acres and 190 countries and 50 international organizations will be in attendance. Canada spent more than $58 million on its pavilion, and even hired Cirque Du Soleil from Montreal to perform. China is spending $4.2 billion to host the event.

Labour costs are much cheaper in China, so perhaps that isn’t a fair comparison. Neither is the way that China procured the venue space. They displaced thousands of residents and bulldozed their homes to make room for the Expo. That sort of thing would never fly in Canada.

Edmonton would also be bidding on a smaller expo, known as a recognized expo which limits the venue to a maximum .25 square kilometres in size. Edmonton is expected to build all the Expo structures and provide free pavilion space to participating countries.

China’s Expo 2010 is a registered expo, which means there is no size limit and visiting countries must build their own pavilions. China basically told world business partners to show up if they wanted to continue to be business partners.

Edmonton’s bid to host World Expo 2017 would be $2.8 billion. This would include financing the new Waltersdale Bridge and needed new buildings on the University of Alberta’s southern campus.

China’s Expo is huge and when making a direct comparison, Edmonton’s proposal does seem minimal. But when comparing the two, it is important to use the philosophy of comparing “apples to apples” for a balanced viewpoint. Taking the two countries economies into account as well as the direct opposite in political viewpoints, the gap isn’t as wide as it first appears.

Edmonton Investment Property

Not Enough Parking An Issue For The LRT System

More LRT stations are being built to encourage people to take public transit, but people are still driving from their homes to the closest LRT. The problem? Not enough parking spaces.

In Malmo Plains, the community is being forced to gather signatures on a petition so parking regulations can be changed to require permits to park on residential streets. The new Southgate Station opened, but without a parking lot, residents are worried all of their street parking will be taken over by commuters.

Permit parking is an inconvenience. Each year residents must re-register their vehicles. Getting a new car means getting a new permit. And residents expecting visitors must get temporary permits for them to park. But it is either this or having no place to park at all.

Southgate Centre does not anticipate much of a problem because of the LRT riders. They have a parking/security force that keeps track of how long vehicles are left in their lots and will issue tickets ($40.00) to those overstaying the five hour limit.

Other LRT stations do have park and ride lots, but in some cases with a minimal number of spaces. Century Park has 1,230 stalls; Clairview 1,372, Belvedere counts 780 and last of all Stadium has 468. Most of these are filled early in the day.

Taking the bus or walking to an LRT station is preferable, but some people can’t or don’t want to do either. Edmonton is trying to get people out of their cars, and in some ways is succeeding, as evidenced by the number of cars in the lots. Improving bus schedules to make the ride to the LRT faster and more efficient will help.

Edmonton Investment Property

Housing Starts Decrease Contrary To Expectations

March marked the first fall in three months for Canadian housing starts, according to Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. Housing starts are units within a certain time frame on which construction has started and units are divided into three categories: apartment buildings over five units large, townhouses and condos, and single-family homes.

Despite seeing a rise in starts in January of 7.5 per cent and a rise in February of 6 per cent, starts in March fell 1.5 per cent. Actual numbers decreased from 200,400 units in February to a seasonal adjustment of 197,300 units amidst expectations of another increase.

It is expected that rising mortgage rates implemented by banks on March 29 has impacted the amount of starts. Mortgage rates have been at a record low of .25 per cent since April 2009, as The Bank of Canada encouraged buyers to invest in property and assist the country in recovering from its first recession since 1992.

While starts on new singles units actually rose 6.9 per cent to 97,700 units, urban multi-family homes dropped 15 per cent to 77,500 units.

BMO Capital Market predicted that as interest rates rise, starts will decrease from 191,000 units to 170,000 units in the January-to-March period.

Edmonton Investment Property

2010 Property Assessments Garnering Fewer Appeals Than In Years Past

Edmonton recently passed new legislation that doubles the time frame given to homeowners to dispute their annual property assessments. Instead of a thirty day window, homeowners now have a full two months to contest the city’s figures. That may be one reason that the number of appeals being received by the City of Edmonton has declined so drastically. Rather than the 3,860 appeals filed in 2009, to date the city has received 519.

It could be that more homeowners are agreeing with the assessment figures. Given the state of the economy in the last couple of years, homeowners and city officials may be closer in their opinions of property values. Assessments are based on what a property was worth on July 1st of the preceding year. July of 2009 was not a remarkable period for real estate values.

Residents could also be using the longer appeal time to use other means to work out their differences in opinion. Some homeowners are using private appraisers for second opinions. Others are taking advantage of the city’s new website that explains the assessment process in more detail. Homeowners can also look at the valuations of other homes in their area to see if their figures are in line with the ones on that official notice from the city.

For the most part, homeowners and city assessors seem to be in agreement on valuation numbers on the current assessments. It has been a rough couple of years in the real estate market and the numbers reflect that situation. Commercial appeals have been down as well. In 2009 there were 2,142 assessment appeals filed. In 2010 the number currently sits at 1,888.

Edmonton Investment Property

Employment Numbers for 2010 an Optimistic Improvement Over 2009

Edmonton employers are planning to be cautious when hiring this spring. While 16 percent of employers plan to add staff, another 12 percent plan to cutback on the payroll that they now have.  The result is a net four percent employment outlook.  This may seem slightly discouraging, but in reality, 72 percent of employers are holding their employee numbers steady which is a good indicator of labour market stability.

The Edmonton business community is used to seeing a bit of a slow down in the second quarter, partially because of the transition from winter to the warmer season. Many companies wind down a bit during this time of year, intentionally.  But the numbers are better than in second quarter of 2009 which had a three percent net employment estimate.
Western Canada is showing the most optimism in the mining and education fields, which average net employment outlet numbers at 15 percent.  The construction industry was also healthy, with a ten percent outlook figure.

Though employers throughout Canada as a whole are not as optimistic about the second quarter as they were about the first of 2010, the net employment outlook number remains at seven percent, which is six percentage points higher than the same time last year.  Things may be a bit slow, but we are headed in the right direction.

Edmonton Investment Property

Edmonton International Airport Has a Slow 2009, But Added Flights Spell Future Flying Success

Edmonton International Airport had three years of high flying success.  Then came the recession and the resulting numbers from 2009 are reflective of the economy as a whole. Canada’s fastest growing airport saw almost an 8 percent decrease in domestic passengers in that year and a one percent drop in international travelers. In 2008 6.5 million passengers passed through the airports gates.  In 2009 that number dropped to 6.1 million.

Passengers arriving into Edmonton from the United States increased by 6.3 percent to break the one million mark for the first time.  There are 10 United States destinations that have non stop service from Edmonton with over 40 arriving and departing flights a day, so that is a good incentive to “Fly Edmonton.”

Even with those numbers, Edmonton continued to add non stop service to more locations, including Costa Rica, Liberia and Huatulco, Mexico. Continental Airlines added a non stop flight to Houston this past November, expected to be a lucrative and popular flight. Houston is a hub for connecting flights to Central and South American countries.  Continental Airlines is also part of the Star Alliance that includes Lufthansa and Air Canada, giving Edmonton more access to global air coverage.

Edmonton International appears to be successfully getting the word out on its 50 non stop service destinations. A common practice in Edmonton was to buy tickets in town and then drive to Calgary because they offered better connections or service to places not offered through Edmonton’s Airport.  The number of people making that drive to Calgary is down 10 percent.

Airlines are also sweetening the pot and WestJet is among them. In the spring, seasonal service to Maui, Hawaii will start. The airline now offers service to San Francisco, California, Cancun, Mexico and Kamloops, B.C. on a year round basis.

Edmonton International is, in turn, doing what it can to keep its airline partners happy. A $1 billion expansion project is in progress to double the number of airline gates.  The more available gates, the quicker the flights get in, serviced and boarded. That makes the airlines very, very happy.  It seems to please the passengers as well.

Edmonton Investment Property

Real Estate Listings in Edmonton Double as Confidence in Industry Grows

Edmonton property owners, encouraged by the incredible rebound in sales by the end of 2009, are once again listing their homes on the market. Some listings also came from people who have been advised that their new homes, under construction, have finally been completed or nearly so.  This brings the number of market listings for January to 2,199, almost double from that of December 2009 which listed 1,118 homes on the market.

January sales of single family homes did decrease by 6.8 percent.  At least part of this can be attributed to the fact that buyers did not have that much to choose from. Now, with more availability, February is predicted to be a stronger sales month.  Even so, sales in January 2010 were 21 percent higher than in January of 2009.  That is cause for optimism.

The additional listings also kept the real estate market on more of an even keel.  It was feared that the lack of inventory might turn the industry into a seller’s market, thus increasing home prices to an unaffordable, perhaps inflated, level.

Pricewise, single family homes averaged $367,747 per unit, up about 4 percent from last year and just a fraction higher than the $366,761 from December of 2009.  Condos averaged out at $239,006 per unit which showed a 0.1 percent increase over last year.  Listings were on the market for an average of 57 days.

Edmonton Investment Property

Resale Real Estate Market in Canada is Healthy
The Canadian Real Estate Association announced on Tuesday that Canada’s resale real estate market is continuing its upward trend. In August 42,483 homes were sold, making the monthly sales 18.5 percent higher than for the same month in 2008. August sales were not quite as strong as those in July, with the number of units dropping from 42,666 to 42,426.

Economists are cautiously warning that the market performance would most likely slow as home prices keep rising and the market stabilizes. Interest rates continue to be at low levels. Three quarters of the local markets experienced a growth in resale property. Vancouver’s increase was 117 percent over the same period last year. Toronto followed at 27 percent and Calgary at 17 percent. Montreal’s gain was 9 percent and Edmonton came in at an 8.6 percent increase. Sales rose by more than 15 percent in June, July and August over the same period in 2008.

Prices are on the rise as well, aided by the increased interest in Canada’s higher end home markets. CREA reported that the average national price was 11.3 percent higher than in 2008, topping off at $324,779 in the month of August. The market showed a 5.3 percent increase in prices throughout 2009 as compared with the same time period in 2008.

 

Edmonton Investment Property

The cost for police services will show up next spring on Edmonton residents’ tax bills.

In order to hold tax hikes to no more than five percent, three to fund city operations, and two for neighbourhood fix-ups, legislators agreed to the increase as part of the budget for 2010.

Mayor Stephen Mandel said Edmonton residents should know that the budget for the police force requires about 25% of city tax funds. The police budget is one of the city’s largest costs at $217 million.

Some officials are worried that police, library and some development agencies might not receive the funds they need to operate fully if they have to stick with the three percent increase. Some suggested that service cuts could arise due to the constraints.

Coun. Amarjeet Sohi said, “I think what will happen is we will fund the most popular, the most citizen-demanded areas, but we will not have any money for other items.”

City manager Al Maurer said council will look at extra services that require more funding than the three percent will provide and will decide if they warrant additional funds.

The city’s 2010 draft budget will be available Nov. 10.