In what is believed to be a first for Red Deer, the city’s municipal planning commission has approved a “strata space subdivision.”
The subdivision relates to a 210-suite supportive living complex and restaurant in Oriole Park West. Slated to be called The Gardens at Hwys 2 & 11, the 6845 66th St. project is being developed by a group of joint-venture partners.
The commission heard on Tuesday that strata space subdivision was being sought so that ownership of the residential and commercial components of the building could be separated. The commercial elements would include the restaurant, a hair salon and administrative facilities, with these located on various floors of the four-storey building.
The commission was told that such “three-dimensional” subdivisions have been done in Calgary, but not in Red Deer.
Toby Lampard, one of the partners involved in the development, said previously that the residential units will consist of suites with one bedroom, two bedrooms, and one bedroom with a den. Each will have cooking facilities and a washer and dryer, with shared amenities to include an exercise room, a library area with computers, a lounge and TV rooms.
Residents will be able to access different levels of support, with staff on site 24 hours a day.
Underground and surface parking are planned, and the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery will serve both residents and members of the general public.
The units will be sold as condominiums, said Lampard. Some will be rented to tenants, he added, including under life-lease arrangements.
The commission also approved the subdivision of the land into two bareland condominium units. This will allow the project to be completed in two phases.
Lampard said the first will contain 110 units and the restaurant, with completion anticipated by the spring of 2011. The second, 100-unit phase will be added when demand warrants.
The cost of the project has been estimated at about $23 million for the first phase and $20 million for the second.
Friday, September 11, 2009
Housing stars rebound
Red Deer builders enjoyed a bigger year-over-year increase in housing starts last month than was the case in any of Alberta’s other major cities.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has reported that work on 43 single-detached homes was initiated in the city last month, up from 21 in August 2008. In the case of starts related to multi-family units, the figure last month was 20, as compared with zero the previous year.
That combined 200 per cent increase in August housing starts topped the figures for Lethbridge, which experienced a 121 per cent jump; Edmonton, which was up 32 per cent jump; and Grande Prairie, which rose 28 per cent. August housing starts in Calgary, Medicine Hat and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo were all down in 2009.
CMHC market analyst Regine Durand commented last week that the Red Deer housing market was rebounding faster than her agency had previously anticipated. That prompted it to modify its forecast for local housing starts in 2009 to 430, from the 425 it was projecting as of May.
Fewer listings on the resale market and a decline in the inventory of unsold new homes were factors affecting the residential construction sector, she said.
So far this year, there have been 266 housing starts in Red Deer: 190 in the single-detached category and 76 multi-family units. That’s well behind the 392 starts accumulated to the same point in 2008, when there were 226 single-detached starts and 166 multi-family units.
Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has reported that work on 43 single-detached homes was initiated in the city last month, up from 21 in August 2008. In the case of starts related to multi-family units, the figure last month was 20, as compared with zero the previous year.
That combined 200 per cent increase in August housing starts topped the figures for Lethbridge, which experienced a 121 per cent jump; Edmonton, which was up 32 per cent jump; and Grande Prairie, which rose 28 per cent. August housing starts in Calgary, Medicine Hat and the Regional Municipality of Wood Buffalo were all down in 2009.
CMHC market analyst Regine Durand commented last week that the Red Deer housing market was rebounding faster than her agency had previously anticipated. That prompted it to modify its forecast for local housing starts in 2009 to 430, from the 425 it was projecting as of May.
Fewer listings on the resale market and a decline in the inventory of unsold new homes were factors affecting the residential construction sector, she said.
So far this year, there have been 266 housing starts in Red Deer: 190 in the single-detached category and 76 multi-family units. That’s well behind the 392 starts accumulated to the same point in 2008, when there were 226 single-detached starts and 166 multi-family units.
Building momentum
The declining cost of home ownership has prompted Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. to adopt a more optimistic view of Central Alberta’s real estate market. And the national housing agency expects local home builders to be much busier next year than their counterparts elsewhere in the country.
In its housing market outlook released on Thursday, CMHC projects that 3,700 Central Alberta homes will be sold through the Multiple Listing Service in 2009. It is anticipated that this number will rise more than five per cent the following year, to 3,900.
An earlier forecast issued in May called for 3,550 MLS sales this year and 3,770 in 2010.
CMHC is also anticipating higher average prices on the local resale market: $269,000 in 2009 and $277,000 in 2010. That compares with its previous forecasts of $264,000 and $271,000 respectively.
“Typically, what we’re seeing is affordability is improving because of the drop in resale prices,” said Regine Durand, a market analyst with CMHC.
Those reduced prices, combined with lower interest rates, have made home ownership more appealing.
“Mortgage payments on average have dropped by 18 per cent from January to July,” said Durand.
“This is boosting MLS sales, and next year we are expecting to see more of that also.”
She added that the cost difference between renting and owning has decreased — narrowing 36 per cent on average from January to July, and luring many tenants into the market.
Although resale prices in Central Alberta next year are expected to increase by about the same percentage as for Alberta as a whole, sales volumes here are projected to climb five per cent, as compared with three per cent for the province.
CMHC has also modified its forecast with respect to new home construction in Red Deer.
As of May, it was projecting 425 housing starts this year and 515 in 2010. Those figures have changed to 430 and 490.
Durand said the increase for 2009 was motivated by signs the new home market is strengthening.
In July, she pointed out, residential construction starts were 16 per cent higher than in the same month of 2008. In the case of single-family starts, the year-over-year jump was 76 per cent.
“We are seeing that the market is picking up a bit faster than what we were expecting.”
One of the factors boosting this demand is fewer options on the local resale market.
“Active listings were down 14 per cent in July,” said Durand.
CMHC’s decision to reduce its 2010 housing start forecast for Red Deer by 25 units was motivated by the surplus of multi-family units still on the market.
“Inventories of singles in July were down 39 per cent, year-over-year, but we still had 111 multis in inventory, which is three times more than last year,” said Durand.
But even with the reduced forecast, Red Deer’s 2010 housing starts would be 14 per cent higher than the figure forecast for 2009, she pointed out. That’s a slightly bigger increase than the 13 per cent residential construction growth expected provincewide, and more than twice the six per cent increase CMHC has pencilled in for Canada.
The numbers are still much lower than in 2008, when there were 4,214 MLS sales in Central Alberta, with an average price of $278,000. The year before that, sales numbered 5,075 with an average selling price of $270,494.
On the construction side, 572 homes were built in Red Deer last year and a record 1,558 in 2007.
Nationally, CMHC pointed to improved resale activity and lower inventory levels in both the new- and existing-home markets as factors that should prompt builders to increase construction.
However, CIBC World Markets economist Benjamin Tal suggested that the recovery in housing starts would be much slower. He believes slower population growth and higher costs for new homes after provincial sales taxes are harmonized with the GST in provinces like Ontario and B.C. next year will soften near-term growth in new home construction.
Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren also sees a slow recovery in new home building due to oversupply in some major markets, particularly in the condominium sector.
But Warren said the CMHC forecast is yet another sign Canada’s real estate market is on the rebound, and performing better than previously thought.
In its housing market outlook released on Thursday, CMHC projects that 3,700 Central Alberta homes will be sold through the Multiple Listing Service in 2009. It is anticipated that this number will rise more than five per cent the following year, to 3,900.
An earlier forecast issued in May called for 3,550 MLS sales this year and 3,770 in 2010.
CMHC is also anticipating higher average prices on the local resale market: $269,000 in 2009 and $277,000 in 2010. That compares with its previous forecasts of $264,000 and $271,000 respectively.
“Typically, what we’re seeing is affordability is improving because of the drop in resale prices,” said Regine Durand, a market analyst with CMHC.
Those reduced prices, combined with lower interest rates, have made home ownership more appealing.
“Mortgage payments on average have dropped by 18 per cent from January to July,” said Durand.
“This is boosting MLS sales, and next year we are expecting to see more of that also.”
She added that the cost difference between renting and owning has decreased — narrowing 36 per cent on average from January to July, and luring many tenants into the market.
Although resale prices in Central Alberta next year are expected to increase by about the same percentage as for Alberta as a whole, sales volumes here are projected to climb five per cent, as compared with three per cent for the province.
CMHC has also modified its forecast with respect to new home construction in Red Deer.
As of May, it was projecting 425 housing starts this year and 515 in 2010. Those figures have changed to 430 and 490.
Durand said the increase for 2009 was motivated by signs the new home market is strengthening.
In July, she pointed out, residential construction starts were 16 per cent higher than in the same month of 2008. In the case of single-family starts, the year-over-year jump was 76 per cent.
“We are seeing that the market is picking up a bit faster than what we were expecting.”
One of the factors boosting this demand is fewer options on the local resale market.
“Active listings were down 14 per cent in July,” said Durand.
CMHC’s decision to reduce its 2010 housing start forecast for Red Deer by 25 units was motivated by the surplus of multi-family units still on the market.
“Inventories of singles in July were down 39 per cent, year-over-year, but we still had 111 multis in inventory, which is three times more than last year,” said Durand.
But even with the reduced forecast, Red Deer’s 2010 housing starts would be 14 per cent higher than the figure forecast for 2009, she pointed out. That’s a slightly bigger increase than the 13 per cent residential construction growth expected provincewide, and more than twice the six per cent increase CMHC has pencilled in for Canada.
The numbers are still much lower than in 2008, when there were 4,214 MLS sales in Central Alberta, with an average price of $278,000. The year before that, sales numbered 5,075 with an average selling price of $270,494.
On the construction side, 572 homes were built in Red Deer last year and a record 1,558 in 2007.
Nationally, CMHC pointed to improved resale activity and lower inventory levels in both the new- and existing-home markets as factors that should prompt builders to increase construction.
However, CIBC World Markets economist Benjamin Tal suggested that the recovery in housing starts would be much slower. He believes slower population growth and higher costs for new homes after provincial sales taxes are harmonized with the GST in provinces like Ontario and B.C. next year will soften near-term growth in new home construction.
Scotiabank economist Adrienne Warren also sees a slow recovery in new home building due to oversupply in some major markets, particularly in the condominium sector.
But Warren said the CMHC forecast is yet another sign Canada’s real estate market is on the rebound, and performing better than previously thought.
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