WerDel Properties

The Bank of Canada held its key overnight interest rate steady at 2.25% today, marking the sixth consecutive announcement with no rate changes. The central bank cited a rebounding economy but warned that global uncertainties and energy market volatility remain risks to future inflation. Interest rate holds generally keep rents high or rising by maintaining high costs for landlords and locking priced-out buyers into the rental market.

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It feels like we are moving into an era of humans versus AI. With Marketplace currently not showing rental listings, I went back to basics and Googled “Rentals in Lacombe.”

Kijiji came up as the clear winner with 14 listings. It was around before Marketplace, and it is still there doing what it has always done.

RentBoard, Apartments.com, and Zillow also appeared in the search results, but with little to no inventory for a smaller city like Lacombe. They seem to be much more active in larger centres such as Edmonton and Calgary.

If you are not managing your own property, Red Key Realty also came up as a property management company with a few Lacombe listings. Then there is the larger Laebon group, which markets its own apartment buildings through its website for Lacombe and other locations.

If your property is listed on any of these platforms, it may or may not also appear on Mitula, which seems to function as a classified ad search engine for rentals.

We might have to go back to putting up banners and signs on the street front. Do you remember those days?

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A summary of what is for rent in Lacombe. Sourced from Kijiji and Facebook Marketplace.

1. $995_Flat Iron Building_Commercial Building_0Bed_1Bath
2. $1,395_Chez Sylvie Residence_2Bed_1Bath
3. $1,430_Trilogy Apartment_1Bed_1Bath
4. $1,550_Chez Sylvie Residence_2Bed_1Bath
5. $1,550_Adres not provided_House_Mainlevel_3Bed_1Bath
6. $1,650_Adres not provided_House_Basement_2Bed_1Bath
7. $1,650_Mackenzie Court Apartments_2Bed_1Bath
8. $1,650_Adres no provided_Duplex_3Bed_1Bath
9. $1,700_4929 Beardsley Ave_Fourplex_2Bed_2Bath
10. $1,799_4730 48 Ave_Triplex_3Bed_2Bath
11. $1,875_Adres not provided_Townhouse_3Bed_1.5Bath
12. $1,950_Adres not provided_Duplex_Mainlevel_3Bed_1Bath

Facebook Marketplace showed me only one rental when I narrowed the radius down to Lacombe. Everything else that came up was 'homes for sale'. I am wondering if anyone else is having this issue?

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The Bank of Canada maintained the policy rate at 2.25%.

The evolving conflict in the Middle East is causing heightened volatility and US trade policy continues to reshape global trade patterns. Both are ongoing sources of uncertainty.

In the United States, growth is still solid, boosted by AI-related investment and consumption growth. China’s economy is being supported by robust exports. In the euro area, higher prices for oil and natural gas weigh on economic activity.

Since the start of the war, the US dollar has appreciated against most major currencies. The Canada-US exchange rate has been relatively stable.

In Canada, consumer and government spending are supporting economic activity, while tariffs and trade uncertainty are weighing on exports and business investment. Housing activity declined and is being held back by slow population growth, economic uncertainty and ongoing affordability issues. The labour market is soft, reflecting both weak hiring and fewer job seekers.

Canada is a large net exporter of oil, higher oil prices increase national income even as consumers are squeezed by higher gasoline prices.

So far, there is little evidence that oil prices have fed through more broadly to goods and services prices, but the Bank of Canada will closely monitor the impact of the conflict in the Middle East and the economy's response to US tariffs and trade policy uncertainty. The Bank is looking through the war’s immediate impact on inflation, but will not let higher energy prices become persistent inflation.

Source: bankofcanada.ca

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