Edmonton Best Place to Invest

According to the "Real Estate Investment Network" and an article in the Vancouver Sun this morning, Edmonton tops the list of places to invest in Canada.

Alberta touted as hot spot for real estate investment
Mario Toneguzzi, CanWest News Service;
Published: Thursday, May 04, 2006

CALGARY - Alberta is the best place in the country to buy residential real estate for long-term investment, according to the Real Estate Investment Network.

In a list of top places in Canada to invest, Edmonton, Grande Prairie, Alta., and Calgary are noted as the hot spots in the country for buyers to make money in residential real estate.

"This is for long-term fundamentals. Long-term hold,'' said Don Campbell, a real estate consultant, author and president of the Real Estate Investment Network.

"The next three years all kinds of regions across the country are going to look spectacular. But these ones will outperform over the long period of time.''

The rest of the top places for residential real estate investment include Kitchener-Waterloo in Ontario, Fort St. John, B.C., Barrie, Ont., Halifax and Hamilton.

Richard Corriveau, regional economist for the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. for the Prairies and Territories, said the "one thing you can bank on is future appreciation.''

"The difficulty for investors will be how do you cash flow a property. You purchase a new condominium, a new single-family home (they) might be very difficult to cash flow a property. A renter might not pay your carrying costs but you'll get the return at the back end of the sale once your home appreciates,'' Corriveau said.

He said it is difficult to determine how many people are buying residential real estate for purely investment purposes as opposed to living in the properties.

"Anecdotally we hear upwards of a quarter of all new condominiums,'' Corriveau added.

"The question remains whether they are speculative investors and they intend to flip the property prior to the structure even being completed or whether they intend to rent it to people.

Campbell said that in British Columbia there's no question the Fort St. John region (and Dawson Creek) is "the No. 1 place to buy for investors.''

In Ontario, it's the Kitchener-Waterloo and Cambridge triangle.

"We're actually calling that the economic Alberta of Ontario. It's got strong, strong growth and lots of in-migration and average income is increasing quickly. If I was to invest anywhere outside of Alberta, that would be my second choice. Absolutely,'' Campbell said.