This and That

B.C. Housing "Afford ability" Drops - "While Vancouver remains the country's most expensive real estate market, the largest affordability slides over the last couple of years have been suffered by Saskatoon, Edmonton and Calgary.

Alberta is still, however, avoiding British Columbia's stressed affordability conditions..." RBC economist Derek Holt

Although housing affordability in Alberta has dropped over the last year housing is still more affordable than many Canadian cities.

Unwavering demand supports rising Canadian house prices in third quarter - "The oil sector remained a bright spot for Alberta and continued to fuel
buyer demand; however, the rate of price appreciation and the intensity of the
housing market scaled back from where it was 14 months ago."

The market is scaling down, and that is what happens with incredibly hot markets. This softening will last about 6 months. We consider it a great time to pick up good deals that will appreciate.

Housing Highs Still Showing - "Real estate is driven by monthly payments and you can afford more and pay less monthly when your amortization is moved from 25 years to 40 years."

If you can buy more "house" at cheaper monthly payments then the cost of housing isn't such a problem for buyers.

Alberta has good odds to avoid post boom bust - "With the province expected to post economic growth of 4.3 per cent this year, growth is expected to moderate to between 2.5 and three per cent for 2008-09 due to rising costs for labour, production and infrastructure.""The promise of oilsands projects, combined with assets such as a young, educated population and an excellent business climate, bodes well for the region,"

Alberta has a strong economic future.