The Weekly 411:

Today we're covering

🏠 Ontario's Construction Slump

🔍 Canada's Top Searched Cities for Homes

📈 Home Prices Grew Canada-wide (but not in Toronto and Vancouver)

👷‍♂️ Alberta Faces Extreme Construction Labour Shortage

🛍️ Retail Real Estate is Thriving 

Read Time: 3 minutes

🏠 Ontario's Construction Slump

• Ontario's new home construction starts has slowed to 2018 levels 

  • 5,589 homes started in April, the lowest since 2018

  • A 37% drop in housing starts in urban areas compared to April 2023

  • A 15% drop in projected annual housing starts for 2024

• Multi-unit residential projects have been particularly affected, with:

  • A 41% drop in starts for non-detached homes (including apartments, condos, townhomes, and row housing)

  • 60 new projects totaling over 21,000 units in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area were put on hold indefinitely

🔍 Canada's Top Searched Cities for Homes

• Edmonton and Calgary are now the top-searched cities for home hunters in Canada

• Searches for Edmonton homes have quadrupled since before the pandemic

• Searches for Calgary homes have more than doubled since 2019

• Affordability is a major draw:

  • Aggregate home price in Edmonton: $434,400

  • Aggregate home price in Calgary: $643,200

  • National aggregate price: $809,200

📈 Home Prices Grew Canada-wide (but not in Toronto and Vancouver)

• Home prices in April increased across the Maritimes, Quebec, and Prairies.

• Calgary saw a 10% increase and Edmonton a 5.6% increase. Toronto and Vancouver prices were down slightly year-over-year.

• Sales are up 10.1% compared to April 2023, suggesting a strong recovery potential if interest rates remain favorable.

• April sales were down across Canada by 1.7% compared to March and below the 10-year average.

• New listings increased 3% month-over-month, hitting a record high since the pandemic began, creating a favorable market for buyers.

👷‍♂️ Alberta Faces Extreme Construction Labour Shortage

• Alberta's population boom is adding strain on the construction sector, with over 200,000 new residents added last year.

• Companies are struggling to find skilled workers, particularly in the Edmonton area.

• The province's construction job vacancy rate jumped to 6.7% in Q3 2023, up from 3.5% pre-pandemic

• Alberta is launching a tax credit to lure skilled tradespeoples by offering a one-time$5,000 tax credit for those who move to Alberta before the end of 2024 and live in the province for at least a year. 

🛍️Retail Real Estate is Thriving 

• Retail is now a top-performing commercial real estate asset class

• Driving factors:

  • Population growth: 2 million new Canadians in 2 years, which added $24 billion in additional retail sales

  • Pent-up demand for in-person shopping experiences after pandemic lockdowns

• Winning retail assets:

  • Plaza and strip-mall assets, typically anchored by a grocery store

  • Essential retailers (grocery, drug, liquor stores) offering the strongest returns

  • Grocery stores: consumers prefer in-person shopping, and logistics of delivery are challenging

• Lagging retail assets:

  • Retailers serving office workers (downtown Toronto and Ottawa)

  • Mid-market fashion retail in enclosed centers (malls)

🖼️ Image of The Week

They say a picture is worth a thousand words... So, every week, we share one image that describes how we feel about the news that week.