If your the type of person that thinks real estate is linked to the health of the economy, and that Calgary's economy is linked to the Oil and Gas sector, you may think twice about any predictions of increases in the next couple years.
The Oil and Gas sector downtown is in a bit of a downturn. Not a massive one, but a little one. That's probably a good thing, because prices on just about every item in the city were escalating quickly.
At my place of employment, it seems that every well we try and get moving forward gets pulled back because it "isn't economic" beyond '09. The new royalty structure on our Alberta properties is way too burdensome with the existing cost structures in industry. Our President recently scaled back big time on Alberta investments.
Rig utilization has lowered and services are moving out of province.
I realise this is a different sector, but I think it could impact real estate, as there will be more jobs available (the service side is going to get hit hard and people will be laid off). Just the other week we lost 5% of our company.
People don't realise what's happening- but they will because of the lag effect of the Calgary economy.
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