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.