Market Update to Dec. 2/10 Red Deer
Price Range	All Active	Pending	Active 1 Year Ago	Sold MTD Nov. 25/10	Sold MTD Nov. 30/10	Sold MTD Nov. 30/09
< 100	25	1	21	4	4	4
100 – 150	37	1	28	2	2	1
150 – 200	54	1	43	6	6	11
200 – 250	79	9	72	17	22	21
250 – 300	117	6	104	21	28	20
300 – 325	49	4	41	14	15	19
325 – 350	41	0	44	7	7	13
350 – 375	28	1	28	6	6	9
375 – 400	39	2	36	3	3	5
400 – 450	39	1	38	8	8	4
450 – 500	33	1	22	4	4	2
500+	54	2	61	8	8	5
Total	595	29	538	100	113	114
Avg. Price	$322,950.		$334,856.	$312,922.	$309,608.	$291,957.
Days On Market	64		53	57	58	47

The New Normal – Let’s face it.  We could sit around and lament about the good old days – when house prices were going up $10,000 per month – but were they really the good old days?  When you had to compete with 3 or 4 or more other buyers and offer more than full price for a house you didn’t even like that much.  The sooner we stop pining for the good old days and understand that this is the new normal, the better off we will be.  Now is the right time to make a move.

Alberta — Among the most affordable in Canada – RBC Economics Housing Affordability Survey

Despite substantially improved housing affordability in the province since early 2008, housing demand in Alberta is still a shadow of its former self from just a few years ago, and there are few signs that it is picking up meaningfully.

Market conditions remained quite weak in the third quarter, and buyers have emerged clearly in the driver’s seat, causing home prices to decline (down between 0.6% and 2.2% depending on the housing type) and contributing to further improvement affordability. The RBC Measures eased between 0.8 and 1.8 percentage points, more than reversing modest rises in the second quarter. Homeownership in Alberta is among the more affordable in Canada both in absolute terms and relative to its historical averages.

Such a high degree of affordability augurs well for a strengthening in housing demand, once the provincial job market sustains more substantial gains.

Alberta Job Market Lagging… for Now – Todd Hirsch, Senior Economist, ATB Financial

Alberta is used to being #1 when it comes to the economy. Over the years leading up to the 2009 recession, the province was racking up a series of top honours.  But coming out of the recession, Alberta still holds one not-so-flattering #1 position: the most lagging job market.

While some jobs have started to return to Alberta in 2010, employment growth has been slower than in the rest of the country. For Canada overall, total employment has now exceeded its pre-recession peak. Even Ontario has done better in the jobs category coming out of the recession.

During the recession, Alberta’s unemployment rate more than doubled, peaking at 7.5% in March of 2010 (seasonally adjusted). From the peak of employment in fall 2008 to the bottom in March 2010, over 75,000 jobs vanished in Alberta—on a proportional basis, it was the worst hit of all ten provinces.

As always, some perspective is necessary. Even though Alberta’s unemployment rate rose proportionately more than any other province, it started from an extremely low base.

Now, with an unemployment rate of 6% in October, Alberta still has a lower rate than most other provinces—and nearly 2 percentage points below the national average. Not bad, really, for the hardest-hit job market in the country!

However, with Alberta’s economy on the mend, it might not be too long before Alberta sees a return to labour shortages.

Tags: Red Deer real estate market update