Article content

More and more homes across the country are sitting empty, especially in central and northern Alberta, shows a report from a Canadian real estate website.

The report by Point2 Homes examined Statistics Canada data and found that between 2006 and 2016, the cities of Grande Prairie, Leduc and Fort Saskatchewan saw the greatest jump in the share of ‘ghost homes’ in the entire country. The proportion of vacant residences in each of those cities more than doubled, with Grande Prairie topping the list with a 181.4 per cent increase.

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

tap here to see other videos from our team. Try refreshing your browser, or Edmonton and surrounding area see marked increase in 'ghost homes': report Back to video

While Edmonton didn’t see as dramatic of a jump as some of its neighbouring cities, its share of empty homes rose by 32.5 per cent during the same timespan, giving it the second largest increase of capital cities, behind only Winnipeg.

“The fragile economy, the tough labour market, stagnant wages, doubled by oversupply and a slower pace in economic recovery all influenced the increase in the percentage of vacant homes,” said Andra Hopulele, who authored the study.