1. Canadians Are Still Spending and Confident Canadians are still reveling in the feeling of being rich and are still spending plenty at their local shopping plazas, fueling rents and returns for Alberta&#x27s retail investors. Everyone wants to outdo their neighbors with the latest brands and often this even involves finding new neighbors to impress. Housing isn&#x27t slowing down and bidding wars on properties are far from uncommon. In fact many Canadians openly say they are willing to bid 120% of a property&#x27s asking price, with 53% of buyers in Alberta willing to go to battle and pay over asking price for what they want. New housing start statistics are exceeding expectations by the thousands, showing increased confidence, and of course new homes means more shopping which needs to be done to kit out new digs, boosting retail investors&#x27 returns even further. 2. High Stock Returns Are a Thing of the Past Those counting on double digit investment returns to boost their nest eggs for retirement and throw off healthy income may no longer find they exist in the stock market. One of the most famous economists Robert Shiller (known for Shiller P/E and S&P Case-Shiller index) came out in the news forecasting that the huge stock returns seen in the past were an anomaly and much leaner times lay ahead. In fact, Shiller predicts a 4%, if not as low as 2%, annual average looking forward over the next decade. 3. Canada One of Few to Retain AAA Ratings Citi Group&#x27s economists recently announced Canada to be one of the handful of countries expected to keep their AAA ratings. Even Belgium, the Netherlands, France and Finland are expected to get downgraded in the near future, among others. 4. Alberta Has the Jobs The Financial Post&#x27s recent review of the latest job numbers reveals a massive surge in jobs being added in Canada. March figures smashed expectations, reporting the largest jump in employment since the fall of 2008. Economists expected 10,500 new jobs, we got a massive 82,300! Alberta of course still ranks well ahead of most of the nation and even the world with an unemployment rate of just 5.3%. 5. Even Toronto Real Estate Agents Are Pointing Clients to Alberta Even Realtors in Toronto recognize the tide is about to turn and are encouraging many of their commercial real estate clients to sell out of their Ontario holdings and reinvest in the west.

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