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The economic downturn in Alberta is nothing new to Ryan Griffiths. The technician who works for the Ford Motor Co. in Airdrie, just north of Calgary, gets paid piecemeal based on every job he does. When the economy started to slow in 2008, he had to figure out how to make ends meet.

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Thinking of buying a home in West Vancouver? Your income better be at least $320,932. To buy a house in Trois-Rivières though, your salary would need to be just $39,379.





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“That’s the running joke around here: How did you get through it last time?” said Mr. Griffiths, 45.

The simple answer is: save enough money so you have a cushion when times are bad. Most planners suggest savings should cover your living costs for three to six months. The worst answer is: to do what some people appear to be considering right now, panicking.

Real estate sales in Alberta are off as much as 30% to 40% from a year ago and listings are way up, creating one of the worst scenarios in which to sell your home. Prices haven’t dropped dramatically yet, so it remains unclear whether Albertans have bailed out of housing en masse.