A real estate consultant is rating Prince George the 10th best place in B.C. to invest.
That's the same place the city finished when the Real Estate Investment Network (REIN) carried out a ranking two years ago, but is still impressive considering 51 communities in total were accounted for, said the company's president Don Campbell.
"To be brutally honest, I thought [Prince George] would've fallen," Campbell said in an interview. "If I had just followed the news and the headlines without getting on the street and talking to the people and talking to the investors and the homeowners and the economic development people, you would think that Prince George has slipped down and it hasn't, which is very good news."
In the report, REIN emphasized Prince George's location, just 100 kilometres east of the province's geographic centre, where it is at the junction for some major road, rail, and air routes.
"The city's inland port connection to the Port of Prince Rupert has opened trade possibilities with Asia while major rail lines connect the city with the United States market," authors Campbell, Melanie Reuter and Allyssa Epp wrote in the report.
"A recent runway extension at the Prince George International Airport has only increased its lucrative position as a trade centre."
The main economic driver continues to be forestry which has been struggling due to the high Canadian dollar, the U.S. housing crisis, the decline in housing starts in Canada and the proliferation of the mountain pine beetle which is expected to destroy 80 per cent of the province's marketable pine by 2013.
However, the downturn has caused Prince George to go through an "economic rebirth" and the boost the city received from mining and oil and gas was acknowledged.
"That being said, economic transitions are never an overnight phenomenon. Investors in this region will battle with tenant turnover, selecting the right part of town in which to own, and the inevitable cycles that an economic transition brings over the coming years," the authors cautioned.
Surrey was rated the top community, followed by Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows, Kamloops,Abbotsford, Fort St. John, Dawson Creek, Kelowna, Comox Valley and Penticton. Vancouver follows Prince George.
"Truth be known, you've got the Quesnels, the Williams Lakes, there's lots of talk about Kitimat, and they have not made the list," Campbell added in the interview. "Prince George has got some job stability, you've got the university, you've got some diversification, it makes a big difference."
Based in Abbotsford, REIN describes itself as "Canada's leading real estate research, education, and consulting organization."
Slight upswing predicted
The B.C. Real Estate Association (BCREA) is predicting small increases in volume and average price for Prince George home sales heading into 2012.
By the end of next year, 820 single-family homes will have sold for an average price of $252,000, both increases from a predicted 810 sales for $248,300 on average by the end of this year.
In 2010, there were 786 sales and the average was $240,867.
The BCREA said listings in communities across northern B.C. have outpaced demand over the last few months and so market conditions are near the lower end of a balanced market and therefore price increases are expected to be only in the one per cent range.
The BCREA is also predicting starts on the construction of 150 single-family homes and 60 units of multiple family housing over 2012, compare to a forecasted total of 125 single family homes and 60 multiple family units for this year.
In 2010, there were starts on 151 single family and 62 multiple family.
"New home construction has been on par with historical average levels in the multi-family market while the larger single-family market softened considerably from last year," BCREA said in its report, released Tuesday.
"We anticipate a modest rebound in the single-family market next year to 150 units paired with continued strength in the multi-family sector at 60 new starts."
Construction began last month on 14 single-family homes in the Prince George area, Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation said in an update also released Tuesday, down slightly from 14 during October 2010.
The year-to-date total now stands at 106 compared to 140 by the same point last year.
There were also starts on two units of multiple-family housing in October, compared to 10 over the same month last year, raising the year-to-date total to 41 units, down from 54 units by the end of October last year.
