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Sturgeon County Roots

Information for Gibbons, Bon Accord, Morinville, Legal, Redwater, and Fort Saskatchewan, and market information
Real Estate prices down for now! Time to SELL and move up FOR LESS!

The real estate in Sturgeon County has been on a wild ride for the last 2 years!  We have seen a sharp incline up until last fall, and it was followed by a slide down in prices. 

Watching the markets in Sturgeon County is my job, and so is helping people understand it.  While many people are afraid of selling because the market is down, and wondering how much money they’d lose, a small portion of the population is seeing the opportunity we have now.  What better time to upgrade!

Do you remember those people last spring who were standing in line to make bids over list price against up to 10 or more competitive buyers?  Where are they now?  NOT COMPETING WITH YOU!  There are lots of properties out there to choose from, and many sellers are open to negotiation, this allows you to find the home of your dreams for an amazing deal! 

Right now, the difference in cost between your current home, and the move up home you have been wanting is far less than it was last year, just because of the lower prices!  The more you move up in price, the more the prices have been affected.  Condos are holding value well, while single family homes have taken a single family homes have taken a notable decrease, and the asking price of new construction homes has reduced greatly (although mostly last year they were NOT selling at all).

New homes in Morinville that were priced at over $450,000 last summer are now moving in the under 400k price range.  That’s a huge discount!  There hasn’t been a better opportunity to move up now than there has been in a long time!  Lets take a quick look at the difference between 2 property type averages

# 1 – Upgraded 1980 3 bedroom 2 bathroom 4 level split with double detached garage and unfinished basement in Morinville

#2 2006 built 1700sf 2 storey with bonus room, hardwood, granite, double attached garage and unfinished basement

April        2007  -  340k vs 440k, 100k difference

February 2008  -  305k vs 380k, 75k difference. 

That’s a savings of $25,000 in the difference in cost of moving up!

$150/month on a 25 year mortgage at 5.5%!  (Don’t forget, they plan to drop prime .25 to .5% In March, with possibly another drop .25% later this year, and a .5% drop on 5.75% is almost a 10% Discount on Interest!)

These trends are happening all over Sturgeon County and Area.  Maybe now you can afford the upgrade, or maybe you just don’t need that 40 year mortgage term that’s so intimidating.  No matter the situation, there is no better time to save money moving up than now.  The price of real estate in Sturgeon county over the next 3-10 years is only looking up.  We have all of the correct economic factors to keep our market moving up.  Build that equity in a higher value home, and maximize the return on your investment while enjoying the home of your dreams!

Call your realtors who are Deeply Rooted in Sturgeon County, Patrick and Rick Milligan at 1-888-921-0303, to see what YOU can move up to today.

*** First Time Buyers, don't feel left out!  This is an equally good time to get into your First home!

Posted: Thursday, February 21, 2008 11:52 PM by Patrick Milligan

Comments

Dave said:

You would have to be slightly retarded to buy property in Alberta right now, especialy in Sturgeon county.  The Synenco upgrader is cancelled,  the BA upgrader ran out of money and Shell is trying to get a camp built for out of province workers for its upgrader.

# February 26, 2008 11:59 AM

Gus said:

Yes Dave, and this pause in activity will last forever.  Let us know when the world can function without energy.  Oil is in high demand and here is where it is found.  I won't predict when prices will begin the next leg upward but I also won't be betting against it!

# February 26, 2008 3:49 PM

Patrick Milligan said:

I have some other information in the blog post, “Alberta's Outlook, the Bigger Picture” which gives a snapshot of Alberta, it's place in the world, and some major economic factors that are currently being discussed. I welcome everyone to have a look at that post as a part of forming their opinion on Alberta’s real estate outlook.

I’ll address a few of Dave’s statements

Syneco never announced a firm commitment for Sturgeon County, but they have closed on their property purchase.  They never put a proposal forward, but they have done a land assembly which would lead me to believe they have plans in the future for the area.

BA is in the City of Fort Saskatchewan, not Sturgeon County, so I have not completely researched those facts.  However, I don’t think BA is out of money.  It is true that the costs of construction have gone up drastically since these projects were first announced, and these budgets need to be reviewed.  Will we get all of the upgraders here?  It would be fantastic, but it is doubtful, and we don’t NEED that level of growth to be a great place to invest.  

Northwest Upgraders received their Building Permits and water permit from the county and province respectively within the last 2 weeks indicating their moving forward.   Also, the projection of $150/barrel oil in 5 years by IBC analysts, is going to keep these companies moving forward as there is plenty of room for profit at that price, even at $100/barrel, I suspect there is room for profit.  

People working on the Shell Upgrader are currently buying homes in Sturgeon County, I have had experience with some of these buyers.  And, a temporary camp makes sense as there is going to be a huge influx of temporary workers.  There is already in sturgeon county a pretty steady stream of temporary workers.  I nthe summers campsites are full of 5th wheels, and vacant rental properties are hard to come by.  Another area that has temporary work camps would be Fort McMurray, and some of these temp camps are over 20 years old.  The real estate market down there dosen’t seem to have been hit particularly hard up there, as the cheapest condo listed now is a 1974 2 bedroom apartment, 850 sqft for 268,000, the cheapest mobile on owned lot is 279,900, and a 1050 sf 1952 single family home goes for $425,000.  I don’t suspect camps to scare off buyers, and a portion of those temporary workers will decide they like Alberta and stay.

My confidence is that we will be getting significant work from the upgraders and the spin off they will provide, and that work will last for many years to come.  As a note as well, you’ll read in the Alberta’s Outlook Blog that Non-Conventional Oil and gold are the places to put your money when taking it out of the volatile US market, so I expect there will be some new money partners showing interest from other parts of the world to keep these projects moving forward, even with the inflated costs.

Keep the comments coming!

Patrick

# February 26, 2008 11:20 PM

Mike said:

David; do not twist the facts and stop spreading rumours that are not true. I personally work in the field in a senior capacity and I can tell you about it: The BA engergy project is not out of money. BA engery was looking for strategic partners and they partnered with Value Creation and all is good; see for your self.

http://tinyurl.com/2fuzdy

As for Synenco, they have a billion barrel reserve in their upstream mine and a valid upgrader approval and still waiting for the upstream approval. They are known in the field that they are speculators and want to sell and cash-in. There are few potentials buyers but Synenco thinks that they would get better price once they get the ERCB (formerly EUB) approval for the upstream mine.

David, is this your real name or shall I call you Squidy?

# March 23, 2008 8:39 AM

Mike said:

One more thing to add, event at $60 per barrel, all these Oils sand projects are economically viable.

# March 23, 2008 8:42 AM

Lar said:

How viable are these projects at $40 per barrel?

# January 1, 2009 8:11 PM
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