Edmonton’s growing economy and affordable housing have made it Alberta’s top spot for property investment, according to a new report from the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN).
“It’s more of a diversified economy than Calgary, which has been more of an on-off tap,” said Don Campbell, senior real estate analyst at REIN. “This report is designed to talk about the next five-year window. During those five years, Edmonton is poised to outperform in the housing market compared to the rest of the [Alberta] market, but we don’t expect to see those 20 per cent increases that became normalized a decade ago.”
The average monthly rent for a single-bedroom apartment was recently pegged at $910, significantly lower than in other Canadian cities, REIN said.
Falling rents and rising vacancies indicate that Edmonton is in the middle of a transitory slump, making now a good time to buy housing in anticipation of an eventual recovery.
“The fix-and-flippers, the HGTV-watching guys, it’s not the greatest market for them, because it’s a slower market and there’s lots of new products coming on line,” Campbell said. “Edmonton is buy and hold. There’s opportunities for cash flow, there’s low mortgage rates … if you look at it from an investment market perspective, Edmonton will do very well.”
REIN has listed Calgary as the second-best place to invest in housing, while Leduc came in third and Fort Saskatchewan came in fourth.
Lethbridge, Okotoks, Red Deer, Medicine Hat, Airdrie, and Lacombe made up the rest of REIN’s Albertan top-10 list.
