Sales ease, but low supply drives home prices to record highs in Saskatoon

A home for sale sign is shown in a Toronto west end neighbourhood May 8, 2020. (THE CANADIAN PRESS / Graeme Roy)

SASKATOON — Home sales in Saskatoon have slowed, but home prices continue to rise reaching record highs, according to the latest report from the Saskatchewan Realtors Association (SRA).

It says Saskatoon has seen a year-to-date sales decline of 13 per cent. However, figures are still higher than long-term averages.

The report says rising interest rates should be cooling off demand for homes in the city, but low supply is keeping prices from falling.

“In April, new listings were a mere 665 units, 30 per cent lower than last April and over 18 per cent below typical levels seen at this time of year. The drop in new listings relative to the sales has caused further reductions in inventory levels and ensured the market continues to favour the seller with only two months of supply,” the report says.

It adds both inventories and supply for the month of April are the lowest since 2008. That helped push the benchmark price in Saskatoon last month to a new record high of $338,500.

“While price gains have occurred both in the single-family and condominium market, year-to-date condominium prices remain below previous highs reported back in 2015,” the report says.

Tighter market conditions are also keeping upward pressure on home prices in Regina, according to the report.

It says the Queen City saw the benchmark price rise to $271,100, which is a year-over-year gain of four per cent.

“New listings trended up relative to levels recovered over the past several months, helping support some monthly gains in sales activity. However, both sales and new listings continue to remain lower than the levels reported last year both for the month of April and year-to-date figures.”

“While rising lending rates are likely contributing to some of the pullback in sales, another challenge limiting sales has been the drop in supply choice, especially in the larger markets of the province,” said SRA CEO Chris Guérette said in a media release.