Some recent foreclosure statistics for Calgary AB

I recently did some searching for some recent numbers on how many mortgages were actually behind currently in Alberta and the number was actually quite staggering! The most recent numbers for Alberta show that there is currently 2,168 mortgages in just Alberta that are currently in arrears. This total actually surprised me a bit but then I thought about it for a bit and it does make sense when you look at some of the more well known statistics for Alberta’s major centers. Both Calgary and Edmonton average about 400 to 500 new foreclosure filings every month. Now this is people who have had a statement of claim filed against and are at least 3 months behind on their mortgage and have not been able to get current. So that is 800 to 1000 a month on mortgages that are at least 3 months behind in those two major cities. This does not account for mortgages that are only 1 or 2 months behind either. So after looking at this that number of 2,168 makes more sense.

Is this number something we should be concerned about in Alberta? Or is it just a result of the current economy? Too be honest these numbers aren’t much worse then what we have typically experienced in the last 20 years in this province. However with the downturn in the economy and also the real estate market in the past 2 years this has resulted in an increase that has not been seen since the last turbulent times of the early 1980’s.

What does this all mean? Not a whole lot, but it is a good indicator as to what the market is doing and how the economy is performing. When there are plenty of jobs and people have lots of disposable income then these numbers seem to drop drastically. Right now is a good time to capitalize on this market as someone does have to buy these houses.