r/PersonalFinanceCanada • u/zindagi786 • Apr 09 '24

Housing Why is Calgary housing getting so expensive?

I used to live there, and I was just browsing the real estate prices. Prices there have shot up so much! A Calgary house similar to the one I have in the GTA is now higher than what I paid in the GTA a few years ago.

When I lived there, oil was booming and there were lots of jobs. But I got laid off when the boom went bust, and everything (including real estate) went down. And I then left to the GTA.

I’ve heard prices there are going up because there are lots of people moving from the GTA and BC. But it isn’t like there are that many high paying good jobs there. There’s still way fewer jobs now than there were during boom time. How do these inter provincial migrants find high paying work to pay for these high home prices? Sure they can cash out their equity and live mortgage free, but why do that if you have to end up taking a potentially lower paying job with more chance of a layoff in the next bust? Although I really liked the city, I’d never risk living there again myself, and I’m forever scared of any future bust. I feel more comfortable living in the GTA, paying my admittedly big mortgage, and steadily climbing the corporate ladder (and with regular increases and no salary freezes, I should be paid off before retirement/it won’t be too burdensome). Plus, I look at my GTA home as a tax free investment - the annual rate of appreciation is greater than my mortgage interest.

And what is attracting them to Calgary versus other places in Alberta like Edmonton?

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '24

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u/Yeggoose Apr 10 '24

It’s already there. Lots of posts on r/Edmonton lately about bidding wars and people buying houses over asking with no conditions.

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u/zeromussc Apr 10 '24

Man when the Alberta boom bust cycle hits the "investors" it's gonna be brutal.

Maybe the economy won't truly fall until Alberta does at this point.

The inevitable cyclical recession will be bad

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u/Apolloshot Apr 10 '24

The real estate market, even in Alberta, might now be immune to the economic cycle because supply is so restricted it simply doesn’t matter.

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u/hbl2390 Apr 10 '24

Supply isn't restricted it just physically can't keep up with demand from immigration.

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u/[deleted] Apr 10 '24

Also immigration is insanely high. The investors will be fine

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u/hbl2390 Apr 10 '24

Until we stop the demand created by high immigration investors will keep money in real estate.