By Jesse Kinos-Goodin
Financial Post
August 11, 2010
When investing in real estate, sometimes it’s necessary to look beyond your own backyard.
The Real Estate Investment Network, a national organization of investors, has compiled what it says are the top 10 Canadian cities in which to invest, with Calgary leading the way. But only a handful are major cities, and some are surprising.
Don Campbell, the group’s president and one of the researchers on the study, says the results are based on factors such as planned transportation improvements, or if the area’s average income, population growth and job growth are increasing faster than the provincial average. Nothing east of Ontario shows up on the list, and while Campbell says cities like Halifax, Saint John and Moncton “still provide decent returns,” the top cities are ones that will outperform the national average between 2010 and 2015.
Calgary was ranked at the top because it’s “poised to outperform the average by a wide margin,” says Campbell. After two years of declining average resale housing prices, the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. has predicted they will increase year-over-year in 2010. The report credits the downturn to a much-needed correction, and that it was “economically impossible for the (Calgary) market to continue at the pace at which it was heading.” But now that it is coming out of the recession, along with economies elsewhere, Calgary’s strengths in producing food, fuel and fertilizer will boost its growth. “Calgary is in a unique economic and geographic position to take advantage of the direct and indirect jobs this increase in demand will create,” says Campbell, who adds that with strong in-migration and renewed affordability, the city provides a good buying window for long-term investors.
The top 10 cities are:
1. Calgary
2. Kitchener-Waterloo-Cambridge, Ont.
3. Edmonton
4. Surrey, B.C.
5. Maple Ridge & Pitt Meadows, B.C.
6. Hamilton, Ont.
7. St. Albert, Alta.
8. Barrie & Orillia, Ont.
9. Red Deer, Alta.
10. Winnipeg
© The Financial Post
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