Irrigated farmland has higher overall value than cultivated or pastureland. Irrigated land in southern Alberta had a record-high increase with land values ranging from $8100 to $20,200 per acre for an average of $14,900 per acre. According to the report the increase was attributed to larger contracts for specialty growers, mainly potatoes, and to land coming for sale near major growers and storage site.Pastureland values in Alberta increased by an average 5.5 per cent in 2022. The Southern region saw the lowest increase in pastureland values but is still the highest value in the province at $3500 per acre.
The number of single-family residential sales in Brooks increased significantly between 2020 and 2021. While year 2022 is not yet over, the sales are not on track to reach the 200 sales made in 2021. Sales of detached homes in Alberta are down 22% year-over-year (reported September 2022). Average sale prices for single family homes in Brooks so far in 2022 has been $290,220 which is an increase from the average of $237,456 in 2021.
Average farmland values in Alberta had moderate/stable increases with an overall average increase of 3.6% in 2021. The overall increase in 2020 was 6%. The largest increase was in the southern region. Extremely dry conditions across the province had little effect on farmland values in 2021, since lower yields were partially offset by high commodity prices. Most land transactions took place prior to the full impact of the drought. The range of values per acre is wide; large per cent increases on some lower-value land resulted in a small increase in per acre prices. The Southern region recorded a 6.2% increase in farmland values in 2021. Producers’ motivation to expand their land base was mostly behind the increase. In the Southern region, the value of irrigated land increased at a pace of 10.7%, which is higher than the rate observed for dryland in the same area.
Canada has experienced a sharp increase in building costs recently. There are several factors contributing to the building material increases in Canada.
When COVID-19 lockdowns were in full affect, many property owners started and or finished renovation projects. Some hotels, motels, clubs, recreation facilities, offices, churches, and commercial buildings had limited occupation or were unoccupied or had limited usage during the pandemic lockdowns. Property owners took advantage of these lockdowns to conduct upgrades that would normally disrupt use of the buildings.
Many suppliers for lumber and other building materials shut down temporarily due to COVID-19 restrictions. This created a supply shortage.
Central banks lowered interest rates to spur economic activity creating a general increase in demand.
Border restrictions have delayed material movement and made trade more complex from a cost and time perspective. Lumber sitting in warehouses and docks negatively impacts prices, timelines, and supply.
The United States often takes precedence for material suppliers as it is much larger market. The comparatively smaller Canadian market competes with the United States for everything needed to build. This causes shortages, increased costs and delays.
Average farmland values in Alberta increased at a much slower pace in 2019 at 3.3%, compared to an increase of 7.4% in 2018. The larger increases were in the south and central regions, while values showed incrementally smaller increases moving northward. Alberta agriculture faced several challenges in 2019 with weaker economic conditions, volatile commodity prices and adverse weather contributing to a smaller average increase in farmland values. Many areas of the province were impacted by a September snowfall, so harvest was delayed or never completed in some areas and the overall quality was down. Potatoes in the southern region were the bright light in 2019 with an increased demand from the processing sector, which contributed to a 3.9% increase in the average farmland value for the region. With an additional potato processing company in the Lethbridge area, producers were given an incentive to increase their irrigated potato production. Dry conditions, however, negatively impacted values for unirrigated land. Northern and Central regions of the province reported stable to moderate increases in farmland values, 1.5% to 5.3%, respectively. Moisture conditions in the western part of the northern region were above average, reducing yield and quality. Many areas of the Peace region experienced periods of forest fires and related smoke. Frost and dry conditions were followed by an early snowfall, which made for a challenging season that resulted in a modest 1.1% increase in average farmland values. Despite this, there were a few pockets in the Peace region that experienced a successful season and land sales continued to be strong, but the increases are still lower than the previous year.
The median sale price for single family homes in Brooks in 2018 was $240,000 which is almost unchanged from the 2017 median sale price of $241,000. The market remains relatively stable after seeing some decline from 2015-2017 due to the recession in Alberta. There is still an oversupply of homes on the market in Brooks and area. The oversupply may still be putting some downward pressure on sale prices.
Oil prices declined heavily near the end of 2018 and this will likely put more stress on the real estate market in Brooks. There is still significant uncertainty regarding the future of Alberta’s oil industry and the outlook for 2019 is uncertain due to the recent oil price fluctuations. A pipeline approval would go a long way toward restoring confidence in the market.
The average value of Alberta farmland increased 7.3% in 2017, following average gains of 9.5% in 2016 and 11.6% in 2015. Values were driven by both demand and weather. While the province experienced steady demand in all regions, there were pocked of very strong demand from competing farm operations as well areas of decreased demand due to overly dry conditions. Southern Alberta was impacted in 2017 by a lack of rainfall on dryland, however this was offset by the pockets of increased demand. The Southern Alberta region’s irrigated land saw a stead to increase demand combined with limited supply leading to higher overall increase of 11.4%.
With the new solar and wind farms popping up on farmland all over Alberta many people are wondering how it affects property values. This article offers some insights.
“A key point of contention against wind (and solar) farms is that they require much larger amounts of land to generate the same amount of electricity, an important downgrade of their “greenness” that goes conveniently ignored. Wind power is naturally intermittent, and plants typically operate at about 25% of full capacity, compared to coal and natural gas plants operating at 90%.”
Average sale price in Brooks for the first 9 months of 2017 was $267,980 with 86 sales, compared to 77 sales for the same period in 2016 that had an average price of $248,847 (up 7.7%). Source: RASCA
The average value of Alberta farmland increased 9.5 per cent in 2016, following gains of
11.6 per cent in 2015 and 8.8 per cent in 2014. Values in the province have continued to
climb since 1993.Despite an economy hurt by depressed oil and gas prices, Alberta reported the second highest average farmland values increase in Canada, eclipsed only by Prince Edward Island. The province’s 9.5 per cent average increase was largely buoyed by grain sector expansion in the north, as well as activity from non-traditional buyers in the south. While competition for available farmland also increased prices in other regions, farmland on the
outskirts of urban centres saw reduced prices due to the general economic downturn. Some adverse weather, as well as depressed oil and gas prices, placed downward pressure on farmland values, while large farm expansion and competition
between beef and grains sectors in some areas helped boost the value of marginal cultivated forage or pasture acres.
