Toronto Developer Delays Alberta Condos Amid Oil Crunch

The pain in the country's oil patch is expanding to one of the country's biggest real estate moguls.

Lamb Development Corp. will delay the construction of two condominium projects in Alberta. This delay is due to the dip in the price of oil slashing jobs and housing demand. According to Brad Lamb, a well-known real estate mogul, stated that the circumstances in Alberta is worse than 2008.

The company decided to delay a 36-storey condo project called Jasper House as well as a 25- storey project called North for at least one year. The comes in as condo sales in Calgary and Edmonton reported the steepest decline in 2015 since the financial trouble. According to Altus Group Ltd., condominium sales dropped 38 per cent in Calgary, Alberta's biggest city. In Edmonton, there was a 56 per cent decline in condo sales last year.

According to the real estate boards in Calgary and Edmonton, the prices of condo apartments in Calgary are among the hardest hit in the housing market with prices decreasing 8.7 per cent to $279,697 in January 2016. The average price of a condo in Edmonton dropped 10 per cent to $227,052 during the same time period.

According to Brad Lamb, all the condominium projects planned in Alberta will be constructed. He said that 40 per cent of Jasper House sold in October and until now approximately 50 per cent of the project has been sold. He hopes to start building in February of next year. His other project, North has not been marketed yet but will be built sometime after the Jasper House project.

The other projects by Lamb Development Corp., in Calgary are moving on with construction. This includes a 31-storey tower and a two-tower condo complex that starts construction this fall.

Reference: Bloomberg Business

http://www.bloomberg.com/…/toronto-developer-delays-alberta…