MARKET UPDATE – June 30, 2017
The Red Deer market continues to struggle with year to date sales down 16% when compared to the same time in 2016. In spite of lower activity levels, the market remains very close to balance and the ATB says recovery is on the way.
Despite signs that the provincial economy is turning a corner, ATB Financial’s most recent Business Beat survey suggests a full economic recovery will still take time. Optimism about the economy is up compared to last year but the latest round of surveying shows a slight decline in the number of small- and medium-sized businesses that believe Alberta’s economy will be stronger in six months. ATB’s Economy Index slipped from 58.4 in the first quarter of the year to 54.1 in the second quarter. (A value more than 50 means more business owners are more optimistic than not.)
The latest reading of ATB’s Business Index was 64.6, down by 1.5 points from the first quarter. Despite the moderate dips in the two indices, both economic and business optimism levels are above 50 and show that economic sentiment in the province is far better than last year.
We are of the same opinion when it comes to the housing market – there are signs of improvement but the real recovery may be a while coming. In the meantime, there’s still tremendous opportunities for buyers.
