Immigration to Calgary has been increasing as Alberta has become increasingly prosperous through the oil boom. Immigration is likely to increase, especially considering the that Calgary has just been named Canada’s best city to live in. Numerous social services are already strained, but as more people move to Calgary, they will all have to make another decision, one that comes with a limited amount of choice – buy or rent, and where?
Though many people looking to live in downtown or in any other popular area may want to rent while starting out, in Calgary that is becoming an increasingly unviable option. As Calgary becomes more densely populated, rent is increasing and availability of rental buildings is drastically decreasing. Rent increased by an average of about six percent since last year, while the vacancy rate in Calgary has been decreasing by more than one percent for the past few years. If rent isn’t an available option, are houses filling this demand, and do they have lower prices, or is Calgary becoming increasingly destitute in terms of housing?
Though there has been coverage of numerous high price houses selling, including Jarome Iginla’s and the most expensive house in Calgary, selling for just over 10 million dollars, for the common person housing is nearly as difficult to purchase as it is to rent. Calgary has a strong housing market, and consistently maintains a strong number of sales, even when the overall Canadian market is in decline – over the past year, Calgary housing sales declined two percent, while Canadian housing sales fell by nearly ten times as much. Though the amount of sales is declining, which may mean that in the next few years, the shortage of housing will be solved, with construction catching up to demand, price are still extremely high. The average price of a house in Calgary has gone up by more than ten percent in the last year, meaning that anyone who is looking to buy a house will have an exceedingly difficult time.
Right now is not the time to buy or rent a place in Calgary – though it may never be the right time. Calgary is becoming a nexus of the Canadian economy, and with that, we may be doomed to suffer from increasing housing prices, falling to the same fate as Toronto and Vancouver. Construction may catch up with demand, so new Calgarians’ only hopes are for construction to reach a level which lets everyone buy a house and enjoy their time in the greatest city in Canada.
