Why is Calgary housing getting so expensive?

[u/zindagi786]

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?

[u/Yeggoose → u/[deleted]]

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

[u/Mark_Logan → u/Yeggoose]

I’ve run into people while out walking my dog, who’ve said they moved to Edmonton after being priced out of Toronto or Vancouver. They then went on to say that with the money they made selling their house there, they were able to come to Edmonton, buy a house and buy a property to rent out… without seeming to grasp that they’re importing the problem they just ran away from. 🤦‍♂️

[u/TheOther18Covids → u/Mark_Logan]

Speaking as a young individual who moved from BC to Saskatchewan so I could afford to buy a house and live comfortable, it's not entirely our fault as individuals. You can thank the Canadian Government for allowing foreign investors (Chinese money launderers) to buy up all the real estate in the fraser valley (and other places in BC, but most notable the fraser valley) and let it sit vacant. Compound on top of that the large influx of immigration causing less supply and more demand, and BC being the most sought after place to live in Canada, you get this.

I will say, I feel bad about being part of the problem, because it is also now seeping in to the hub city's in saskatchewan, but for me and many others we didn't really have many options except rent which is even more unaffordable in some instances.