Building off the strong performance seen in June, the real estate sector continues to show signs of resilience. Across the province, year-over-year sales were up over 56% from July of last year (and up over 9% year-to-date), new listings were up over 9% year-over-year (but down 11% year-to-date), and the median sale price was up 2.7% (down 0.9% year-to-date). Inventories were also down in all markets that the SRA tracks, suggesting that people are still eager to buy and take advantage of the opportunities that exist.
While there has been an uptick in the number of COVID cases across the province, the precautions put in place earlier this year seem to have reduced people’s anxiety about home buying. “When the pandemic hit, we put measures in place to make sure that our members and their clients would be safe while buying homes,” said SRA CEO Jason Yochim. “And we’re seeing how effective those measures have been. People feel safe and they’re buying,” suggesting that while COVID is still a concern, people and the economy are adapting.
Although prices are down in some markets (reflecting the local nature of real estate), the number of sales were up in all markets that the SRA tracks, and the number of new listings were up in all but one. Again, this suggests that the sector is doing quite well despite the impact the pandemic has had on the province, and that the sector has recovered in two to three months.
The strong performance seen in June and July (supported by increasing confidence in the real estate sector) is promising for August as well. “Members are still receiving multiple offers and some properties continue to be sold almost as soon as they’re listed,” says Yochim, suggesting that there is still pent-up demand. As a result, would-be sellers may be encouraged to list and help ease the declining inventory burden. And with children scheduled to return to school in September, August could see another strong push before life gets back to “normal” and Saskatchewan real estate activity begins its cyclical slow down.
Saskatoon
Sales in Saskatoon were up 41.0%, going from 390 in July 2019 to 550 in July 2020, and up 54.5% in the overall region, going from 495 to 765. In Saskatoon, sales were 36.7% above the 5-year average (and 33.1% above the 10-year average), while in the larger region, sales were 37.9% above the 5-year average (and 33.2% above the 10-year average). Year-to-Date (YTD) sales in Saskatoon rose 4.1% over last year, increasing from 2,232 to 2,324, while YTD sales in the larger region rose 8.2%, going from 2,975 to 3,219.
Sales volume was up 49.0% in the city, going from $129.4M to $192.8M in 2020 (38.0% above the 5-year average, and 33.4% above the 10-year average). YTD sales volume in the city was $793.9M, an increase of 7.3% from last year. In the region, sales volume was up 11.4%, going from $938.7M to $1,045.3M (42.9% above the 5-year average and 38.8% above the 10-year average). YTD sales volume increased 11.4% in the region, rising from $938.7M in 2019 to $1,045.3M in 2020.
In Saskatoon, the number of new listings in July 2020 rose 9.1%, going from 748 to 816 (6.0% above the 5-year average and 3.7% above the 10-year average), while in the region, new listings rose 9.7% from 1,097 last year to 1,203 this year (5.7% below the 5-year average and 5.1% above the 10-year average). YTD new listings in the city fell 8.5%, going from 4,952 to 4,530, while in the larger region, the number of new listings to date fell 10.2%, going from 7,359 to 6,609. Active listings fell 20.3% in Saskatoon (down from 1,950 to 1,555) and fell 20.9% in the region (down from 3,575 to 2,827).
Inventory in Saskatoon stood at 3 (which is 43.5% below the level last year and 45.5% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 67.4%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers. Inventory in the larger region stood at 4 (which is 48.8% below the level last year and 43.8% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 63.6%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers.
Homes in Saskatoon stayed on the market an average of 43 days in July—down 17.3% from 52 days last year (but below the 5-year average of 48 days and above the 10-year average of 43 days). Homes in the region stayed on the market longer than homes in the city at 55 days on average in 2020, but also down from an average of 64 days last year (and 3.8% below the 5-year average).
Median home prices in Saskatoon went from $316,000 to $338,500 (an increase of 7.1%) and were approximately 3.0% above the 5-year and 3.2% above the 10-year average median price. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI)—a more accurate measure of house price trends—is up 1.8% from $309,400 to $314,900. Year-to-date, the median home price in Saskatoon was $328,521 which is 2.1% above the $321,657 price from the same time last year. Median home prices in the region went from $300,000 to $320,000 (an increase of 6.7%) and were approximately 2.3% above the 5-year and 2.5% above the 10-year average median price. Year-to-date, the median home price in the region was $309,504 which is 2.6% above the $301,514 price from the same time last year.
