[Recently], world oil prices have fallen below $30.00 per barrel and
are at prices not seen since 2003. The world oil price situation continues to cast an economic pall
over the province as well as the City of Edmonton. Edmonton outperformed much of the province
during the year however, most fore-casters are indicating limited growth for 2016. There are no
apparent signs of short term recovery in oil prices. As such, The Network is forecasting another
weak year for 2016. The momentum of a strong economy of 2014 carried over for the first half of
2015 and this propped up sales to a high degree. There was a more dramatic drop off in activity in
the second half of the year. On this basis, The Network is forecasting that 2016 will be a weaker
year as compared to 2015 and is likely to be on par with 2009, which was the low point in the
2008/2010 economic downturn. Once again, recovery in the market will remain contingent upon a
recovery in world oil prices.
In 2016, The Network is launching a listing database which is available for members on a monthly
subscription basis. The listing database covers all multi-family, commercial and industrial offerings
of land and buildings within the Edmonton Metro Area. This includes listing data from all major
brokerage firms, as well as investment real estate offered through the MLS® System of the
REALTORS® Association of Edmonton, etc. The Network as of the date of the writing of this report is
tracking over 300 listings.
Source: https://images.magnetmail.net/images/clients/EREB/attach/2015yearendreview.pdf
