Royal LePage Donates more than $47,000 in Support of the Fort McMurray Restoration Initiative

November 10, 2016 - Updated: November 10, 2016

Royal LePage Real Estate Services, in concert with its charitable organization, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, is pleased to announce that it is donating over $47,000 to Unity House, an emergency shelter serving abused women and their children, and the Canadian Red Cross to assist in the restoration of Fort McMurray.

Across the country, Royal LePage professionals banded together to raise funds to aid Fort McMurray residents displaced by the wildfires that roared through the city this May. In addition to individual Realtor®[1] contributions, many brokerages elected to earmark proceeds generated from the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation’s flagship event, the National Garage Sale for Shelter, to Unity House. In honour of Royal LePage True North Realty in Fort McMurray, a longstanding and generous supporter of Unity House, the company raised approximately $32,000 for the emergency shelter.

In addition, Royal LePage corporately is donating $15,000 to the Canadian Red Cross in Alberta to assist in general rebuilding and restoration efforts in Fort McMurray.

“Canadians watched in horror as wildfires raged out of control in Northern Alberta, engulfing Fort McMurray, laying waste to homes and businesses and threatening the lives of many,” said Phil Soper, president and chief executive officer, Royal LePage. “As soon as the extent of the tragedy became evident, people from Royal LePage offices across the country began to reach out to me, asking simply, ‘what can we do?’. Our brand promise is ‘Helping you is what we do’ and it was in that spirit that the women and men of Royal LePage came together to raise funds with the hope that rehabilitation efforts in Fort McMurray will be accelerated, allowing many to close the book on one of the most trying chapters in the region’s history.”

“Due to the wildfires in the region, this year for the first time in many, we were sadly unable to participate in the National Garage Sale for Shelter, a fundraiser that contributes much needed support to Unity House, our local shelter,” said Marian Barry, broker/owner, Royal LePage True North Realty. “My team and I were truly overwhelmed by the staggering amount of support received from our Royal LePage colleagues across the nation, who stepped in to fill, and exceed, this need, raising funds that will go a long way in helping many women and children seeking shelter during this difficult time.”

And, in related news, despite the devastating effects of the fires, Fort McMurray’s real estate market has been remarkably resilient. Home prices have remained relatively stable throughout the first half of the year, as low inventory levels have been met by a renewed sense of demand. During the second quarter of 2016, the aggregate[2] price of a home within the region slipped a mere 2.09 per cent quarter-over-quarter to $588,843.

When broken out by housing type, the median price of a single family detached home declined by 1.3 per cent quarter-over-quarter to $652,077 while the median price of a semi-detached dwelling remained relatively stable, slipping 0.26 per cent to $473,910. During the same period of time, the median price of a standard condominium actually saw a healthy increase, rising 5.77 per cent to $220,957.

Looking ahead to the remainder of 2016, Royal LePage forecasts that prices of homes across Fort McMurray will remain relatively unchanged.

“From a housing perspective, the most obvious challenge in Fort McMurray is the availability of homes,” added Soper. “The wildfires destroyed thousands of properties – this in a region where inventory is always straining to keep up with demand. The good news is twofold: firstly, people have kept the faith, fully expecting that the energy economy will rebound. This optimism has supported home prices, which have been remarkably resilient in the face of such adversity. Secondly, there is a renewed sense of buyer confidence evident in Fort McMurray’s real estate market as the plans for rebuilding begin to take shape. With each passing day, the market is returning to normality, with new listings coming on-stream. While 2015 sales levels were hampered by low oil prices, it is nonetheless very encouraging that we now see 2016 sales eclipsing last year’s activity levels.”

About Royal LePage

Serving Canadians since 1913, Royal LePage is the country’s leading provider of services to real estate brokerages, with a network of over 16,500 real estate professionals in more than 600 locations nationwide. Royal LePage is the only Canadian real estate company to have its own charitable foundation, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation, dedicated to supporting women’s and children’s shelters and educational programs aimed at ending domestic violence. Royal LePage is a Brookfield Real Estate Services Inc. company, a TSX-listed corporation trading under the symbol TSX:BRE.

About Royal LePage Shelter Foundation

The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation is Canada’s largest public foundation dedicated exclusively to funding women’s shelters and ending violence against women and children. Through agent commission donations and the fundraising activities of the Royal LePage network, the foundation has raised more than $22 million to help provide a safe haven and new beginnings for more than 30,000 women and children every year. To break the cycle of violence, the Royal LePage Shelter Foundation also supports violence prevention and education programs. All funds raised by Royal LePage offices remain in their local community and because Royal LePage pays all administrative costs, 100 per cent of all money and effort goes toward this important cause. For more information visit: royallepage.ca/shelter.

[1] REALTOR® is a trademark identifying real estate licensees in Canada who are members of the Canadian Real Estate Association.
[2] Aggregate prices are calculated via a weighted average of the median values of homes for reported property types in the region surveyed
[3] Data compiled using the Brookfield RPS House Price Index