Published on 18 March 2006 at 01:16 pm
Filed in Property News for Canada » It’s Calgary versus Toronto for Property Investors in Canada
According to a recent survey by RE/MAX real estate agents in Canada, one in six Canadian citizens are planning on purchasing an investment property in Canada in the next one to two years and almost one third of all Canadians surveyed own investment property in Canada already. The demand by local and foreign investors for Canadian real estate has seen property prices increasing in some parts of Canada at an astonishing rate.
In fact the latest statistics on property price movements released by the Canadian Real Estate Association this week show that unbelievably, Calgary is fast catching up with Toronto in terms of median real estate prices thanks to the city experiencing record property price growth in the past twelve months.
It seems incredulous to many who really know about property in Canada that Calgary’s property prices could reach parity with those in Toronto, but if the property price increase trends experienced by both cities in the past year continue then that is exactly what could happen! The average price for a property in Calgary is now CAD 304,000 which is a 26% increase on the average price this time last year. In Toronto on the other hand, property prices have only increased by 6% in the year to date.
The reason that Calgary’s property market is currently so popular for those seeking the best real estate investment in Canada as well as with domestic purchasers is because the city has experienced something of an explosion in economic advancement. A number of large Canadian companies with head offices in Toronto have begun relocating operations to Calgary for a number of reasons including the lower operating costs achievable in Calgary. This has boosted employment prospects in the city and attracted significant inward migration of professional workers to Calgary who seek real estate to rent and buy. The demand for prime office space in Calgary has also led to an increase in rental yields achievable and commercial property investment in the city has surged as a result.
It does seem likely that the record real estate price increases that Calgary has experienced in the past year as well as the levels of investor interest in this particular Canadian city will level out eventually, but according to analysis of the property market trends in Calgary by the regional vice-president for RE/MAX in Western Canada, the desirability of the market will continue for some time and overall economic confidence in Calgary will result in its property market remaining buoyant.
