Real Estate Intelligence
Market data, prospect identification, and development pipeline tracking across Alberta.
Alberta real estate is cyclical and data-rich. Unlike many Canadian markets, Alberta municipalities publish granular property assessment, permit, and business licence data through open APIs. This section turns that raw data into actionable intelligence.
The flow is designed to match how a real estate professional actually thinks: Market Intel gives you the macro read (is the market hot or cooling?), Pipeline shows what supply is coming, Neighbourhoods zooms into micro-trends, and Prospects surfaces specific opportunities.
If you're a realtor, start with Prospects — it's built to help you find listings before they hit MLS. If you're an investor, start with Market Intel and Pipeline to get the macro timing right, then drill into Neighbourhoods for location selection. For commercial plays, the Commercial page tracks business formation and retail activity that often leads commercial property values by 6–12 months.
Prospect Leads
Algorithmically-identified opportunities: equity-rich sellers likely to list, teardown-ready lots, vacant land with development potential, renovation upside candidates, and areas with development permit surges. These are generated by cross-referencing assessment data, permit activity, and property age across municipalities.
ArcGIS, Edmonton Open Data, municipal APIs
Market Intel
The big picture — housing starts, property assessments, permit volumes, mortgage rates, and mill rate trends. If Prospect Leads tells you where to look, Market Intel tells you whether the overall conditions support buying, selling, or waiting.
Bank of Canada, Statistics Canada, Edmonton Open Data, ArcGIS
Neighbourhoods
Micro-level signals from cross-analyzing permits, development activity, and assessment changes at the neighbourhood level. Identifies transformation zones (areas flipping from single-family to multi-unit), teardown corridors, renovation ROI hotspots, and places where commercial and residential uses are converging.
Municipal permit & assessment data
Development Pipeline
CMHC (Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation) housing starts, completions, and units under construction for Alberta's major metro areas. The pipeline tells you what supply is coming — a surge in starts today means inventory hitting the market in 12–18 months. Watch completions vs. starts for absorption health.
Statistics Canada (CMHC series)
Rental Intel
CMHC vacancy rates and average rents by unit type (bachelor, 1-bed, 2-bed, 3-bed+) across Alberta census metropolitan areas. Vacancy rate is the single best indicator of rental market tightness — below 3% generally means upward rent pressure; above 5% means tenants have leverage.
Statistics Canada (CMHC rental series)
Commercial
Commercial property assessments, business formation rates, retail sales trends, and commercial zoning activity. Useful for understanding which corridors are attracting commercial investment and whether retail or industrial demand is leading the cycle.
Edmonton Open Data, Statistics Canada
Common terms in this section
- CMHC
- — Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation. A federal Crown corporation that insures mortgages and publishes housing market data (starts, completions, vacancy rates, rents).
- Housing starts
- — The number of new residential units where construction has begun. A leading indicator of future supply. Usually reported as a seasonally adjusted annual rate (SAAR).
- Mill rate
- — The property tax rate set by a municipality, expressed as dollars of tax per $1,000 of assessed value. A mill rate of 10 means you pay $10 in tax for every $1,000 your property is assessed at.
- Assessment
- — The value a municipality assigns to a property for tax purposes. Not the same as market value, but trends in assessment values closely track market direction.
- MLS
- — Multiple Listing Service. The database realtors use to list properties for sale. "Before it hits MLS" means identifying likely sellers from public data before they formally list.
- ArcGIS
- — A geospatial data platform many Alberta municipalities use to publish property, permit, and zoning data as queryable REST APIs. It's how we get parcel-level detail.