Red Deer sales in the first half of the month are at record setting levels.  If that pace continues to the end of the month, it will be the biggest month in since we started keeping track in 1988.  Thankfully the number of active listings managed increased somewhat although not enough to keep the market close to balanced.  The pending sales count is still very high suggesting that the month will finish strong.

Spring is always the busiest time in the central Alberta real estate market for at least a couple of reasons.  First, a sale or purchase now, often allows folks to move at the end of the school year.  Spring is also break-up time in the energy sector when those people often have some extra time off to look for a new home.

While there have been some layoffs in the energy industry, other sectors in the Alberta economy are making a large contribution to our growth:

Rising prices boost manufacturing numbers – Todd Hirsch, Chief Economist, ATB Financial

Manufacturers across the province have been busier than they’ve been in months, according to the latest information from Statistics Canada. March shipments of manufactured goods rose to $6.6 billion (seasonally adjusted)—a 1.7 per cent increase over the previous month.

Over the last few years, the value of manufactured goods has been rather flat. It’s only been in the last few months that shipments have been trending higher, albeit modestly. Over the last twelve months, total shipments have risen by 5.5 per cent compared to the previous twelve month period.

The rising trend—and particularly the increase witnessed in March—may not be an accurate reflection of what’s going on in factories and refineries across the province. Much of the increase may be due to rising prices, not strong sales or higher volume of production.

The increase in March was in food manufacturing alone. In Alberta, that’s made up mostly of beef and pork processing. The higher value of shipments is due entirely to the recent price jumps for beef and pork. Petroleum refining has also been rising because of higher prices for gasoline and other refined energy products.

Other major manufacturing sectors for Alberta such as wood products, steel pipe, machinery and chemicals have increased by much smaller amounts or have actually slipped a bit. Overall employment in manufacturing is up year-over-year by only 2.5 per cent—below the all-sector growth rate of 4.0 per cent.

Red Deer sales in April really caught fire going over 200 for the first time since last May and is the biggest single month in the past two years. The sales to listing ratio also set a record, going over 50% for the first time in memory. Great news for Sellers, not so much for buyers who are competing with other buyers for the good properties that come on the market. Very quick sales, multiple offers and rising prices are the standards we are seeing until well into the $500,000 plus price ranges.
Red Deer and Blackfalds are the most volatile central Alberta markets with Sylvan Lake coming on strong. Lacombe and Ponoka still have a little catching up to do, but are showing indications that could happen this spring.
Alberta’s economy hummed along at a near‐optimal speed last year, according to the latest calculations from Statistics Canada. The national statistics agency reported that Alberta’s real gross domestic product expanded by 3.9 per cent in 2013.
That was nearly double the national rate of 2.0 per cent. ATB Financial’s most recent economic outlook for Alberta predicts that these healthy and balanced growth rates will continue this year and next. The economy is expected to expand by 3.8 per cent this year and 3.3 per cent in 2015.