John Maygard

Airdrie is now ranked as one of the top 10 communities in which to do business in the June 2009 edition of Venture Magaine. The top 10 cities were chosen based on criteria including costs, business traffic, existing strengths and upside potential. 2314 new business licenses were issued in 2008 and underlines the increase in Airdries population increase and new home starts.
Number one was Alberta's International Region which includes thew City of Leduc and the towns of Calmar, Beaumont, and Devon. Visist www.albertaventure.com to review all the winners.

What a turn around! The Calgary Real Estate Board posted stats for last December showing just over 300 sales for a board area covering over 1 million people. Yes it was extremely slow.

All that has chaged thanks to the drop in prices after a boom period and the lowest interest rates in Canadian history. This has spurred the entry level, first time buyers into action and has seen things heat up substantially. You just can't hold people down forever.

Our government is also talking about no significant rate increases for some time.

Could this be leading into the long awaited balanced market?

I see constrruction projects like new interchanges and new home builders still building. We are very fortunate here in the North West of Canada.

Now to see the rest of the world start to pick up....

After a longer, snowier and colder then usual winter the spring is finally here in good old Airdrie and Calgary.

Winters in Alberta are always too long but I wouldn't want to live anywhere else. With our usually stable ecomomy, government, and standard of living...not to mention the great people I have yet to find all these pluses in another location...even though I may not be looking too hard to find them elswhere.

With spring we are now into a much improved real estate market. Prices are steady and sales are up with listings keeping up at a good rate. Still a good time to buy and many people seem to agree and are finally taking the plunge back into the market.

On the economy...it appears Alberta should ride out this storm better then some areas and be one of the first places to recover when the demand for natural resources picks up. This is evident with several clients I am working with from our Eastern Provinces. They assured me that things are not as rosy there and that employment is still to be found out west.

My hope is for a balanced real estate market for some time and a fairly quick recovery of the economy.

Regards,

John

New home buyers and existing home owners can benefit from these new proposals from our Feds.

There are three actions proposed by our government to help stimulate the housing industry.

1.First-Time Home Buyers Tax Credit...the 2009 proposed budget will introduce a new non-refundable tax credit based on $5,000 for first time home buyers who purchase and take possession of a qualifying home after January 27, 2009.

2. The Home Renovation Tax Credit...A temporary 15% tax credit for home renovations with eligible expenditures exceeding $1,000 but not exceeding $10,000 with up to $1,250 in relief.

3. Home Buyers Plan...Homebuyers can withdraw up to $25,000 from their RRSP's tax free to buy or $20,000 to build their first home.

For full information visit http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/tx/ndvdls/tpcs/rrsp-reer/hbp-rap/menu-eng.html

The market is still in the buyers court. Prices are slowly dropping and downward pressure is continuing due to the world wide recession and overall economic outlook.
People need to find confidence before things will turn around.
First time buyers should give good thought to getting their first property as rates are at an all time low and there are many homes to choose from. Some lenders still offer the Zero Down as an option so if you have stability in your continued earning potential or job security then now is a good time to buy.
If your considering moving up this is also a good time as the higher priced properties have dropped the most dollar-wise.
Don't hesitate to call for your free market anaysis or information about buying or selling today