I am often asked by professionals interesting in adding real estate investing to their portfolio and retirement planning if Alberta is a good province to invest in for real estate. Like many real estate investing questions, the short answer is “It depends” as it requires a better understanding of what your investing goals are first, but I have shared some current market information below that I think gives you some insights and then we can always talk about helping you find the opportunities that would make the most sense.
The Canadian Real Estate Association recently published their monthly statistics and this might help shed some light on why I like to look at Alberta right now as a market with good opportunities.
Unlike some of the other markets, Vancouver and Toronto of course but also places like Atlantic Canada that have been on a major increase over the last year or two, Alberta has not seen the increases they have. The downturn in the energy sector is a big factor. The benchmark price for homes in Calgary actually last peaked in 2014, at around $460,000, before trending downwards, but we are starting to see some light at the end of the tunnel with house prices jumping the first half of this year and now still steadily on the rise.
This is why Alberta and the Calgary area in particular are looking attractive to out-of-province investors. A colleague of mine, Natasha Phipps, was recently interviewed for Canadian Real Estate Wealth magazine about this for an article – Out-of-province investors flocking to Calgary
When you look at the national numbers you can see why.
From CREA – The actual (not seasonally adjusted) national average home price was $686,650 in September 2021, up 13.9% from the same month last year. The national average price is heavily influenced by sales in Greater Vancouver and the GTA, two of Canada’s most active and expensive housing markets. Excluding these two markets from the calculation in September 2021 cuts over $146,000 from the national average price.
Even if you take that national figure and subtract the $140,000, the national average house price is still almost $550,000.
However, Alberta as a whole is well over $100,000 less
And even Calgary and Alberta West, which are traditionally more expensive, are much lower
As you can see, prices here are starting to rise but I certainly feel and so do investors from elsewhere there is plenty of room to make good real estate investments in the right areas with the right properties.
Edmonton, saw average prices of $377,554, making it a significantly cheaper city for real estate than Calgary, and places like Lethbridge, Airdrie and Red Deer, are closer to Calgary but still more affordable.
What this translates to is that the Alberta market is one where you can get into an investment property that will provide positive cash flow.
Regardless of whether you are a local Albertan or from somewhere else, it pays to work with professionals like Natasha and myself who are involved in the market every day and know the best areas, zoning and what is possible with certain properties and has connections with other local professionals that you will need to complete a real estate investment.
It can also save you a lot of time and legwork searching out the good from the mediocre. If you would like to be placed on our priority opportunity list complete the form below and we will be in touch.