Journalists and researchers for Canadian Real Estate Wealth Magazine has compiled a list of the top 100 ‘neighbourhoods’ in Canada which are “set to lead the country in growth.”
Kitimat as a whole was placed into the top 100 neighbourhoods to invest.
The list, which includes communities from coast to coast, has included Terrace and Kitimat among those top 100.
The full results of their findings was published on September 30 in their magazine.
The report found a number of small towns made the list as well, including Bedford, Halifax and Cold Lake, Alberta.
Researchers used a number of data to compile the list, including population, median price, price growth over 12 months, vacancy rate, infrastructure and cash flow.
The magazine used 2011 population levels of 8,335, noting it was a -7.3 per cent growth rate. The average house price, they found using data from Brookfield RPS, was $222,070.
The findings from Real Estate Wealth was supported by Re/Max and Verico Financial Services.
Manuel Leite, the managing broker for Kitimat’s Re/Max office, speaks cautiously about Kitimat’s investment potential, careful not to outright say it’s a sure-fire investment market, but he says there’s definitely been movement from investors in town.
“I’m not too surprised [at the report] because we know a lot of activity has been going on in town,” he said.
But that said, “I’m very cautious when I talk to people about the future because I don’t have a crystal ball.”
That being the case, he has seen more movement of real estate than any of his many other years of selling real estate in the community.
That includes residential properties — small bungalows have been selling fast — and commercial properties.
He points to the City Centre Motel, the North Star Inn, and the Aluminum City Motel, among other properties, as having been recently sold or listed.
“For awhile there we had a lot of demand for large buildings, warehouse-type buildings,” he said, saying those sorts of properties were typically selling to big companies with contracts for local construction projects like the Rio Tinto Alcan modernization.
Of course investors come in all shapes and sizes and there are many individual investors as well.