The outlook continues to look good for Western Canada, specifically Edmonton and Calgary.
In a press release from the Conference Board of Canada projected Edmonton and Calgary to be the “fastest growing metropolitan areas in Canada – not only in 2012, but for the next four years.”
Edmonton, which is coming off a 6.3 per cent increase in real gross domestic product in 2011, is expected to continue to grow its GDP by 4.6 per cent this year, with Calgary coming in a close second at 3.8 per cent. From 2013-2016, Edmonton’s annual real GDP is expected a continued growth of 3.5 per cent.
Energy and construction are the main reasons for continued growth in Alberta.
“Energy-related investment in Alberta is expected to stay vibrant throughout the next four years. For instance, about $29-billion worth of energy-related projects are now under way in the province, and nearly $86-billion worth of projects are proposed for the future,” said Mario Lefebvre, Director, Centre for Municipal Studies in the press release.
What this means is jobs. And what jobs mean is continued growth in an already stable and growing housing market. Housing in Edmonton should grow with the improving economic outlook. New builds, to people selling homes to look for bigger ones should stay stable as long as the jobs continue.
Now, in the previous post, the REALTORs Association of Edmonton predicted a slowdown, but did say the market was stable. It appears its stability will continue if the Conference Board of Canada’s projections come through.