Fort McMurray housing (for sale, apartment, rental)

[geos]

Ft. McMurray is the center of the oil shale industry and I hear there's a housing shortage. I'm thinking of building rental units. Can anyone confirm the housing situation? Thanks.

[DaninEGF]

Interestingly enough...I have been reading a lot about Alberta over the past 2-3 years due to the boom in that province....and in particular Fort McMurray. If you google Fort McMurray boom you will find lots and lots of information pertinent to the last 2-3 years. 60 minutes recently did a story about the boom there.

The good news is that jobs are extremely plentiful and people are moving there in droves....a lot from eastern Canada and especially Newfoundland and Labradror. I read Fort McMurray has the second highest "Newfie" population outside of St Johns. The infrastructure in Fort McMurray has not kept up with the boom and the mayor has pleaded time and time again with the province to provide money to help out. Wages are very good for oil workers and construction workers with starting wages around 100,000 + CDN.

Now the bad is that the influx of workers has created a huge housing shortage and this in term has driven up prices. Fort McMurray is the second or third most expensive place in Canada in terms of housing costs (or at least it was). Many workers have to live 2 to 3 per 1 bdm apartment or 3-4 for 2 bdm apt or worse. Again this was gathered from a show on CBC in 2005 talking to wifes and kids who live in Newfoundland and how they are separated from their husbands who are in Ft McMurray.

So in other words there is indeed a housing shortage...esp an affordable housing shortage. How this relates to anyone going up there to build I dont know and I dont know what process it takes to do so. By the way Fort McMurray is not a city per se...but is part of the Wood Buffalo region government....so if you look on the web that name is what you will see government-wise when referring to the area.

I hope I have helped...

Dan

[lainie]

A friend of mine works in the oil industry in Fort McMurray. Since he lives in another part of Alberta, he drives to Fort McMurray for his work session and rents a tiny bedroom in someone's basement for the duration. This is really common in the area due to the lack of housing. Land is in demand and very expensive. I do imagine that Canadian builders are putting up rental housing as fast as possible.

[ColdCanadian]

I heard a rumour that land is scarce because any homesite is llikely covering up a potential oil-digging site, and the oil companies have already bought most of the extra land.

[geos]

Originally Posted by ColdCanadian

I heard a rumour that land is scarce because any homesite is llikely covering up a potential oil-digging site, and the oil companies have already bought most of the extra land.

I'm thinking (hoping) there must be something available within commuting distance like maybe 25-35km. Time for a research trip I guess.

[ninoska]

Hi....
I live in fort mc for 4 months now..... and I love it....the houses are expensive but if u have a good job it wouldn’t be a problem....is not as expensive as it is in vancouver.....the only bad thing that I don’t like about this place is the cold.....but that u can fix it with a lot of cloth.....
i dont have much to say ... just that this is a good place to come and make money
take care everyone

byeee....

[snowqueeneh]

I have been here for one year now. I pay $3000+ a month for rent. It's insane. We make more than enough to support that, however were too afraid to buy a house here and that fear has really held us back. The housing went up $100,000 since we moved here a year ago. Basically we could have made $80,000 had we bought a house when we came here. I actually have met plenty of people who have made their money quick and are still investing. It sounds so easy but it's also a huge risk. The government just approved a project to get the housing going out here. If that's the case and the houses become affordable then any new homeowners here are totally screwed! They will be here for life just paying off thier debt. This place is a trap for young couples. They come here... get a big fat morgage and a big fat line of credit and a big fat credit card. "Here you go... $600,000 in debt but you can afford it cause you're rich now". I see it all the time. People don't realize what they are getting into... especially the young ones. Divorce and debt. That's all this place is. Remember the old saying "The more you make, the more you spend" It's so true. I will not be part of it. I will make my money and run... no ties here. That's the way I'm doing it.

[ColdCanadian]

Originally Posted by geos

I'm thinking (hoping) there must be something available within commuting distance like maybe 25-35km. Time for a research trip I guess.

That entry must have been a year ago...

I spent last summer in Ft. McMurray.

The oil-jobs "in" Ft. McMurray is not in Ft. McMurray, but typically 20-40 miles away, most of them north, some of them south, a few maybe west or east.

Land is not as scarce as I had guessed.
You could probably find land within 25-35 km OF Ft. McMurray to develop, perhaps within 10-15 km. However, I don't know if you could get it zoned residential.

The closest place to Ft. McMurray that might have land for potential housing is between Anzac, AB and the Ft. McMurray airport area. At least around the town of Anzac. Anzac is maybe 20-30 km south of Ft. McMurray. It's also on a lake.

I've never seen Anzac but on a map, so I don't know if there's any land left for sale near by, but there could be. Also on that lake is a provincial park.

[WebBiz]

There are alot of opportunities for living in Anzac. It's a quiet little hamlet, (well not so little any more) with the development, but check it out

[mikeyyc]

Don't forget there's more to housing than owning the land. What are you going to heat and power it with? Sewage? Water? Approvals and costs for all of the above? Manpower to build it with?

Don't forget it gets to -40 with stunning regularity during the winter.

If it were as easy as throwing up some rental units it would have been done already.