roe_
Active Member
A sign that the market in some cities is truly messed up. Not healthy at all.
|
|
|
Edmonton Real Estate Market
- Thread starter Daveography
- Start date
bodsbods9090
Senior Member
Halifax being so high kind of shocks me.
Guess I don't understand that market so well.
Good to see Edmonton is still affordable...for now.
Kosy123
Senior Member
It's actually hilarious that Winnipeg is somehow more expensive rent wise than Edmonton, with Regina not far behind.
A big part of the solution for Canadian cities is to adopt Edmonton's zoning laws, but I don't think anyone's going to do that until we reach 2 million based on other cities looking down on us tbh
A big part of the solution for Canadian cities is to adopt Edmonton's zoning laws, but I don't think anyone's going to do that until we reach 2 million based on other cities looking down on us tbh
policyenthusiast
Senior Member
It's also worth noting that property taxes in Regina went up by 15% this year.
IanO
Superstar
Again, there is a fine line between 'affordable' and 'cheap' and without higher rents, infill projects can stall and/or not pencil.
The reality is that 5-10% rent growth would not be a bad thing for this city in that regard and would trigger a number of new projects in key core areas.
bodsbods9090
Senior Member
Doesn't seem to be stalling anything for infill projects right now to be honest.
ChazYEG
Senior Member
Wouldn't be bad on the developer side, but with unemployment as high as it is, a frozen minimum wage and no prospects of improvement in the short term, it would be absolutely terrible for most people.
policyenthusiast
Senior Member
The notion that a more heated speculative market amounts to better quality of housing was somewhat disproven by the MURB program, and the "cheap first good second" mentality. Further to that, it's unlikely that new developments could ever undercut existing properties on pricing.
There was a bit on Taproot this morning about infill developers struggling to rent out units with no included parking, and the omission of parking was absolutely a cost-saving measure. I read that and thought "well yeah, no shit." IMO two of the most glaring shortcomings of modern infill are:
1. A focus on building many DUs cheaply, instead of building what people want to live in.
2. CMHC failing to incentivize market housing, instead directing speculative investment to purpose-built rentals.
Good infill projects should not be materially affected by low rents, because if a developer is building residences that people want to live in, they can charge a premium. It's a fundamental "missing the mark" that's happening across Canada.
Just my opinion though.
archited
Senior Member
^ Well said @policyenthusiast -- maybe it is the best trend that could hit Edmonton -- quite forcefully. If the poorly conceived housing, infill or apartment types (no matter), start to become rejected by the renting/buying public (voting with their feet so to speak) then it becomes a statement that would register with developers -- greed ends up on the back-burner. I still think that design standards applied to all forms of housing is sorely needed -- I remember discussing this very subject some years ago with Doug Cardinal and he used to say that his biggest argument with new clients was trying to prove to them that good design is actually every bit as cost-effective as poor design, especially if well considered OpEx was aligned with CapEx. The sad part remains... these ill-conceived abominations that are currently being constructed are visible on the street in the short term. Governments are looking to use several different but aligned programs to affect and effect housing costs -- some of the ideas that are surfacing are quite good.
David A
Senior Member
In a city like Edmonton, there are times rental vacancy is tighter and also times when it is not. Those that build less desirable accommodation can make more money in the short term if the market it tight, but when it changes and it will, they will be the first to be hit by higher vacancy and the hardest hit. Given that rental accommodation is built to last for decades that type of short term thinking probably will not turn out so well in the long run.
Oilers99
Active Member
Having rents lower than Winnipeg and near Regina is not a good thing. Affordability is not the only thing the city should be stressing.
Thanks.
Thanks.
David A
Senior Member
A good thing? Yes and no. Edmonton has been growing more quickly than Winnipeg for a long time. So for this and other reasons it is more attractive to build here.
This also helps keep supply growing here, which helps keep it affordable. However, I agree affordability is not the only thing that should be stressed.
policyenthusiast
Senior Member
How do you figure?
JMatt88
Active Member
Could it be that rents are higher in Winnipeg and Regina due to a lack of supply? As someone that grew up near Regina, the majority of housing built was single family. If no rentals are being built, higher prices will just happen. I remember 20 yrs ago when I started Uni in Saskatoon, and the vacancy rate was near 0% and my rent was nearly doubled in a year (granted it was still under 1K for a 2 bedroom). Guess what I am trying to get at with my rambling is that Edmonton might just be building a lot more rentals than these smaller cities which may explain why the rents in Edmonton are lower.
IanO
Superstar
^highly likely, yes.