By Brittney Matejka

Medicine Hat housing market remains stable regardless of economy

Nov 16, 2017 | 4:15 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB. – Medicine Hat College is celebrating Global Entrepreneurship week with a variety of seminars and information sessions to help their students succeed.

The city of Medicine Hat is home to many successful self starters including Bob Kalista, owner of Royal LePage Community Realty. He said he believes in this community and the housing market regardless of the ups and downs of the economy. During the recent economic downturn, Kalista saw an opportunity to expand his business based on his faith in the city.

“I always seem to expand when the economy is crappy for whatever reason I go by gut, not by pencil and pen,” he said.

Kalista explained it’s his gut feeling that drives his confidence in the Medicine Hat real estate market.

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“We hit bottom probably 2 years ago or somewhere in there, our prices haven’t dropped and we’ve had a little bounce lately,” he said.

His daughter, Brooklyn Kalista, Medicine Hat Real Estate Board President, has been following in her fathers footsteps, not only in becoming a Realtor but also by believing in the community.

“I’ve always enjoyed everything about our city, the people, the community, the feeling that we offer; it’s our culture here,” she said.

Brooklyn Kalista explained the housing market here is different than in other Alberta cities.

“We’re a unique market, regardless of what is happening in the economy we still have some sort of stability,” she said.

Kalista has seen the real estate business change over his 24 years. More change is set to come as of January 2018 as a new stress test will be applied to home buyers seeking mortgages. Kalista’s daughter isn’t worried about the changes affecting buers in Medicine Hat.

“I personally don’t feel it will have much affect on the purchasers, it’s just being a little bit smarter with your money,” she explained.

Kalista said the average cost of a home in Medicine Hat is around $267,000 which his significantly lower compared to Red Deer, Lethbridge and Leduc.