Sorry I mean Alberta, I didn't check the title (idiot)


Sorry for another post so soon. I have so much to think about I think my head will explode.

Our Realtor reckons that the dreaded recession is not hitting Edmonton, well Alberta as much.

These are his words now:

"We certainly are feeling some of the effects of what is going on in the US, however we are not seeing anything like the house market is in the USA.

Yes, our house prices have dropped, but based on reports from our Assn, the sign are that prices are levelling off".

Ok back to me again we are looking into renting a Condo and still think it is a good idea until we see for ourselves for a least a year what the housing market is going to do. We have no kids and the dog is staying in England until we get sorted so there is no rush to buy a house.

Also along with everyone else we had to reduce our house price by alot just to get it sold. We don't want to get stung again by buying now and having the possiblity of seeing the price of it fall in Canada as well.

What are everyone elses thoughts on this?

Oh. I assumed "redneck".

Reports have come out stating that the housing market will continue to cool off during 2009 and start to rebound in 2010.

Will that be the case, who knows??? I guess time will tell but Canada has not suffered as bad as the US, UK so far and by all accounts it wont but again who knows whats around the corner.

This is our thoughts.

I think we are going to go with our gut feelings on this one and rent for a year.

Deep down I already know the answer, maybe I shouldn't have posted this.

We are keeping an eye on what is happening, the house prices are continuing to drop but not as fast so am going to staying renting for the next 18 months I reckon

As bad as this sounds you could maybe get a bargain at the moment or in a few months so taking a rental for a year may be a bad move as things may be getting better at that point.

Someone elses loss is someone elses gain as harsh as that sounds and if you are in a position to take advantage why not because someone else will

Because prices haven't hit rock bottom yet

Hi there

Definitely rent at first - there is a downturn at the moment - mostly due to the fact that we have an idiot premier who has imposed royalty payments on the oil and gas industry without doing having any first hand experience or taking the right advice.

Some oil sands projects are being put on hold as they promised they would do and lots of gas drilling has switched to Sask and BC. Both me and my OH work in the industry and know that this will have an effect on both Calgary and Alberta as a whole. They are reviewing at the moment but if they do not change there will be consequences.

Just got another e-mail off him I'm kind of getting his point but still don't know:


Here you go this is what he is saying to us, I feel a bit bad doing this but I want people's opinions:

If you rent for say six months at say 1600.00 per month, that's 9600.00. That means that you can still buy today and can afford to have house prices go down another 9600.00. That would put you in the same position either way except that in the buy position you would recoup about 3000.00 that is gained in equity paydown.

I can't say I know how you get "equity paydown" on something that's falling in value. I think you just lose money. I think you'd be bonkers to buy a house in Alberta right now.

Having been through the house buying process in Edmonton recently it does seem to be levelling off at the moment.

However, much of this maybe due to the end of the season and those that can afford to make a deal have done.

We offered on a house, well below the asking price a few months ago. They rejected it out of hand as they had paid their asking price for it last year and didn't want to lose money.

Many of the houses we looked at were in this situation where the seller didn't want to lose money on purchases made a few years ago. This may make it look like the market is stable while in fact these house are not selling as they are too expensive.

Having said that we got an amazing deal on a house ( not on MLS and a really motivated seller) so if you can get a really good deal then I would still go for it. But as others have said the market does seem unstable so don't be afraid to bargain.

I am inclined to say rentto start with, not because of the money side, so much as getting a feel for where you are living and what your living expenses are.

While you rent you can always keep an eye on what is available, and buy when you see something that ticks your boxes the best.

He's a salesperson looking to make a deal...............go with your gut feeling rather than the realtor's sales patter

^^Totally agree.

The price of crude has dropped from $147 to (currently) $58. The slowdown in the oil sands projects is a great deal more to do with that than with provincial policy.