Orchard | ?m | 31s | Lamb Development | aA

[UrbanWarrior]

I've been getting more curious with each project announcement about what the 2107 municipal census is going to look like.

Hey, no doubt man! I didn't think of that until I just read your post, but seriously. The developers must know something that we don't. Wouldn't be surprised to see the city back up to 20 000+ growth with the amount of building that's going on!

 

[Oddball]

Hey, no doubt man! I didn't think of that until I just read your post, but seriously. The developers must know something that we don't. Wouldn't be surprised to see the city back up to 20 000+ growth with the amount of building that's going on!

My colleague also brought up a good point a few minutes ago while out for tea. I wonder if the builders are anticipating any spill over from speculative foreign buyers that had been targeting Toronto. Apparently, a lot of the would be buyers in Vancouver shifted their sights to Toronto when the Vancouver Foreign buyer's tax was brought in. Now we see Toronto following suit. Will buyers continue to look elsewhere in Canada? If so, Montreal and Calgary are probably the next logical choices.

 

[JonnyCanuck]

Best thing that could happened to the project is if Arena Plan B was confirmed. Orchard has a head start on any other residential development that is being planned for that stretch of 12 Ave or 11 Ave behind it. More people would step up and buy as a result.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

That would be great for the construction industry but I think that would be bad for the city though.

 

[Oddball]

That would be great for the construction industry but I think that would be bad for the city though.

Oh totally agree, but i think it could plausibly influence the situation. I definitely don't want to see what's happening in Toronto and Vancouver happen here.

 

[maestro]

It's already here buddy.

 

[haltcatchfire]

My colleague also brought up a good point a few minutes ago while out for tea. I wonder if the builders are anticipating any spill over from speculative foreign buyers that had been targeting Toronto. Apparently, a lot of the would be buyers in Vancouver shifted their sights to Toronto when the Vancouver Foreign buyer's tax was brought in. Now we see Toronto following suit. Will buyers continue to look elsewhere in Canada? If so, Montreal and Calgary are probably the next logical choices.

I don't doubt that the foreign buyers are a true target.

 

[BKha]

I wouldn't doubt it either. There are already foreign buyers in Lamb's 6th and Tenth project. With Vic Park possibly being an arena location, the investment side of Orchard just went up a notch.

 

[haltcatchfire]

Also, if anyone had watched Lambs tv show you'd know he attempts to pre-sell as much of the building as possible to outside investors so no doubt he'd be going after the foreign market too. For him it's all about moving the risk to others, while securing as much revenue as possible prior to construction. Although no one should be surprised, that's probably how the majority of developers operate too.

 

[maestro]

Foreign dollars are being funneled into Canadian private equity and little local flippers that continue to reinvest into more and more units are bigger forces in Toronto and Calgary.

 

[Oddball]

Foreign dollars are being funneled into Canadian private equity and little local flippers that continue to reinvest into more and more units are bigger forces in Toronto and Calgary.

Are there any statistics available on this? I don't doubt that you're correct. I am just curious of the extent of which foreign buyers are driving the market here in Calgary.

 

[maestro]

That's what I'm expressing. It's impossible to measure foreign involvement because they set up or invest through Canadian companies. My guess is that the majority buying condo units are local with Vancouver as the only possible exception. Foreign dollars are being used for larger real estate transactions and developments. They are developing towers and buying others.

I believe the stats CREB puts forth for foreign owners buying condos which is around 5%. It doesn't tell the whole story.

 

[haltcatchfire]

I agree with maestro. It's probably a really difficult thing to get accurate statistics on without surveying every private developer and buyer as well as tracking the origin of funds.

 

[UrbanWarrior]

Interesting, I had no idea that foreign money had such a big part in Calgary's real estate scene.

 

[maestro]

Foreign companies aggressively expanding their rental portfolios in Canada is having a huge impact on rental property values which in turn is a major force behind all the rental construction across Canada. Calgary's rental boom isn't an exception. Some purchases are obvious through formed Canadian divisions of international companies. Sweden's Akelius had big plans to spread across Canada with 12,000 units in 5 years when rental property values started taking off 5 years ago. ( I don't think they've have come close to that goal. ) Others are being purchased through stocks in Canadian trusts and funds. Some REITs are speculated to be almost entirely foreign owned.

The Wynne government's is looking into rent control. That may attract more investment in Calgary's direction than a foreign tax on condo unit purchases which are overwhelmingly Canadian.