As Canadian cities go, Calgary has been known for having strong home ownership rates, but a new report from Moneysense magazine ranks Cowtown in last place for 35 best Canadian cities to buy real estate.

The ranking took into account each city’s economy, rental market, as well as the value and growth momentum of housing prices.

According to Moneysense’s numbers, Calgary saw average home prices drop 4.6 per cent in the past year.

Although she wouldn’t comment on the Moneysense survey, Ann-Marie Lurie, chief economist with the Calgary Real Estate Board (CREB), said it’s not surprising that the city might not look as attractive as other place given a certain snapshot in time.

“We just went through a recession, and the numbers look a lot worse as far as how price movements have been,” she said.

Lurie said there are so many factors that go into whether or not a home is a good investment for someone, but she said given a longer time frame, homes in Calgary have increased in value, even when adjusting for inflation.

“When it comes to any sort of investment, ultimately it depends on your time frame. Are you in for a short period or are you in or a longer period?”

Lurie also noted that detached homes have seen greater returns than condominiums.

She said anyone who bought in 2001 would’ve made returns on their investment, but she said it still depends on how one slices the numbers.

Traditionally, Calgary has had strong rates of home ownership when compared with other Canadian cities.

Nationally, the home ownership rate is 67.8 per cent but in Calgary and its surrounding bedroom communities, the rate was 73 per cent, according to the 2016 national census.

A study done by Pavilion Investment House in Edmonton found that when compared with stocks and bonds over a 55 year period, real estate investments in our sister city did not see returns that were as high, and homeowners experienced higher investment risk.

Cary Williams, Associate private wealth counsellor with Pavilion who helped author the study, said the difference wasn’t as stark when looking at a time frame since 2001.

He and his colleagues concluded that treating a home as part of your overall investment portfolio is still a good way of diversifying.

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“Diversification works when you combine real estate with stocks and bond, which is not something that gets focused on,” said Williams.

“If you put one third into stocks, bonds and Edmonton real estate, that risk fell quite nicely when we did that.

BT Brodie Thomas is a Calgary-based reporter covering Work and Wealth. Follow him on Twitter: @metrobrodie

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