Oil deal sends real estate soaring

ST. JOHN'S, Newfoundland, Aug. 21 (UPI) -- A multibillion-dollar oil deal in Canada's eastern province of Newfoundland this week has resulted in a real estate boom, real estate agents said.

The deal signed Wednesday between Chevron and the province could be worth as much as $28 billion, Premier Danny Williams said, depending on royalties from the Hebron project and the price of oil.

St. John's real estate agent Maureen Baker told the Canadian Broadcasting Corp., housing prices in the northeast Avalon peninsula went up in a matter of hours after the deal was announced.

Baker said for-sale listings jumped as high as $40,000 in anticipation of the project that's projected to create 3,000 local jobs before construction of the rig begins in 2012, the report said.

ReMax Realtor Steve Winters told the CBC the rising real estate began in the spring amid speculation of the oil deal.

"We're starting to see the prices jump and what $150,000 could get you last year is not going to get you near this year," Winters said.