Alberta Highlights – Jan. 2016 Employment (S/A) in Alberta was down mo/mo in December by 3,900 jobs. This followed a 14,900 mo/mo decline in Nov. The number of Albertans working in December fell by 14,600 jobs (-0.6%) from Dec. 2014. The unemployment rate (S/A) in December was 7%, unchanged from November but up from 4.7% in December 2014. Urban area total starts in Alberta decreased yr/yr by 27% in December to 1,820 units. Total starts in urban areas were down in 2015 by almost 7% from all of 2014 to 34,696 units. Seasonally adjusted starts in urban areas decreased in December to an annualized rate of 23,532 units (SAAR) from a revised rate of 39,891 units in November. Single-detached starts in Dec. were down by 39% from a year prior while multi-family starts decreased by 14.8% from Dec. 2014 levels.

Alberta Highlights – Jan. 2016 Single-family starts (urban) ended 2015 down by 26.3% from 2014 while multiples were up by 10% over the previous year. Total net migration into Alberta from all sources was down by 34% from July to September 2014 to 11,232 persons. Improvements in international migration were offset by lower interprovincial net migration. Building permit values (both res. and non-res. combined) in Alta fell in November 29% yr/yr to $878 million. Uncertainty over costs associated with the new Alta building code caused permits to spike in October. For the YTD ending November, res. building permit values in 2015 were down 7% from the 1st 11 months of 2014 to $9.36 bil. . Residential (MLS) sales across Alta (AREA) decreased in November by 21.1% year-over-year to 3,707 units.

Alberta Highlights – Jan. 2016 To the end of November, Realtor sales in Alta were down 21.5% from January to November 2014. December sales reported in Calgary (CREB) & Edmonton (RAE) were both down from a year earlier. The provincial average price for homes sold on the MLS in November was $385,430, down 5.3% from a year prior. After 11 months, Alberta’s MLS home prices in 2015 were down by almost 2% from January to November 2014 to $393,309.

Alberta Employment (thousands – seasonally unadjusted) Dec. data Source: Statistics Canada (# of persons employed)

Unemployment Rate (%) Alberta per cent (seasonally unadjusted) dec data Source: Statistics Canada

Alberta Net Migration total net migration - quarterly Source: Statistics Canada

Building Permit Values ($000) Alberta nov. data Source: Statistics Canada

Alberta Housing Starts Urban Centres units (,000s) Dec. data Source: CMHC

Single-detached Housing Starts Alberta Cities (10,000+) units Source: CMHC

Single-detached Housing Starts Alberta Cities (10,000+) units (annual) Source: CMHC * Cities 10,000 only

Multi-family Housing Starts Alberta Cities (10,000+) units Source: CMHC

Multi-family Housing Starts Alberta Cities (10,000+) units (annual) Source: CMHC * Cities 10,000+

Residential MLS® Sales Alberta units Source: AREA

Residential MLS® Average Sale Price Alberta 3 month moving average nov. data Source: CREA