Suburban home developers in Alberta's largest city are looking at a year with a lot of questions ahead.
While Canada Mortgage and Housing Corp. is predicting Calgary housing starts will decline very slightly from around 9,100 in 2010 to 8,900 in 2011 (still way up from roughly 6,000 in 2009), some Calgary media outlets are predicting friction between the city's new mayor and home builders, because Mayor Naheed Nenshi argues that the development industry must pay more of the costs of growth in the sprawling city.
Noted the Calgary Herald in early January on the topic of development levies: "With a renegotiated suburban developers' agreement close to arriving at council, the debate between making growth pay for itself and preserving suburban houses' affordability is about to explode. Nenshi hasn't let up in his comments since his election, arguing Calgarians have been subsidizing the low price of suburban homes. Several colleagues back his push for fiscal sustainability, but others will be wary of punishing [home builders]."
–- Compiled by Dave Husdal
from Western Investor, February 2011
