What’s the biggest challenge facing Calgary’s real estate market? If you ask more than a dozen of the city’s smartest real estate thinkers that question, you’ll get a variety of answers covering a wide spectrum of worries.
Livabl invited the executives to an open forum breakfast on April 10 to discuss how to solve industry challenges collaboratively. As Zonda vice president of sales Matthew Slutsky said, competition should end once lots are secured, and collaboration should begin.
Here are the biggest concerns faced by industry insiders (each bullet point represents an individual speaker):
- The last several years’ sales slump led to so little construction that the industry can’t possibly keep up with a fresh wave of demand.
- That the labor shortage will lead to real capacity issues.
- The challenges posed by adopting new technologies, especially artificial intelligence.
- Getting young people to want to work in the trades is still difficulty.
- Affordability and products that match up with that affordability.
- On the land side – labor is also an issue. It’s hard to get land to market.
- There is trouble with certain trades. They just don’t have the numbers to take on the work, and there is no competition among the trades.
- Office conversions are happening, but the right buildings are only sometimes the ones that are getting government support and incentives.
- Outside Calgary, permits can be obtained in a few weeks. However, if you’re dealing with the city, you could be looking at as long as nine months.
- Affordability – would like to see kids be able to afford homes.
- Multigenerational housing is badly needed.
- The trades that are needed “just aren’t here.”
- Affordability: buyers can’t qualify for a mortgage anymore. Some can’t get renewals.
- Affordability for people moving toward retirement – there’s an opportunity to push a new model of home. Is that multigenerational?
- The industry is “standing on a burning platform” and can’t continue building homes as we do today. We need to be able to respond to demand using current techniques and look to manufacturing and technology.
