2011 - The Good, The Bad and The Ugly

I found a great breakdown on what seems to be the consensus for 2011 - Cautious Optimism.

Optimism - includes consumer confidence and a strong rental market. I've seen these myself more calls for rentals especially from people moving here for work - even in the dead of winter. I'm hearing it too. Talking to the man on the street (and the woman) everyone "feels" things are going to pick up this year.

Cautious - foreboding consumer debt, foreclosures and a slew of listings coming on the market. I've always known that many start their year with a big debt load after the Christmas/holiday shopping frenzy. I'm seeing it in rents paid later due to salaries coming in later due to the employers not having the cash to pay up.

Increases in listings will affect the sale price of your house. Every one has the same idea when can I unload this negative equity property I bought in 2007. Spring will bring a lot of listings of "investors" tired of dealing with rentals and just wanting to get out at any price.

Anyway in my mind this quote says it all:

"Rod's Opinion -
Bottom line is that economically Alberta is the best place in the world to be and everyone knows it and I feel consumer confidence will have the biggest impact on Edmonton's market this year. The message is getting through that there are a lot of great deals out there and with the threat of rates going up I expect buyers to get off the fence in the first two quarters."

I'm certainly buying and not selling this year!