The Saskatchewan real estate market continues to be quite strong, outperforming the market last year. Across the province, year-over-year sales were up almost 52% from last September (and up over 18.5% year-to-date), new listings were up 10% year-over-year (but down just over 7% year-to-date), and the median sale price was up over 2% (up 0.4% year-to-date). Inventories were also down in 18 of the 19 markets that the SRA tracks.

Although the province continued to see a small uptick in COVID cases in September, this hasn’t deterred people from buying and selling real estate. “While it’s been suggested that the market would suffer due to COVID,” said SRA CEO Jason Yochim, “this really hasn’t happened in Saskatchewan.” Despite a smaller number of new and active listings year-to-date, other numbers are generally better compared with last year. “The fact that sales and prices are up while inventories are down suggests the market has more than recovered and is doing better than last year—despite the pandemic,” said Yochim.

Median sales prices were up in 12 of the 19 markets that the SRA tracks (with Melfort and Weyburn seeing the strongest declines while Swift Current and Yorkton saw the greatest increases), while the number of sales were up (or flat) in 17 of 19 markets.

We’ve seen relatively strong performance throughout the summer this year, and this strength has carried over into September. With provincial and civic elections looming this month and a general sense of activity, October could also see another strong performance despite the market beginning to cool.

“Even though we expect activity to fall off compared with the highs of summer,” said Yochim, “people still seem motivated and interested in real estate.” The safety precautions that the SRA put in place back in April to help reassure the public that real estate is safe has certainly helped to channel pent-up demand and allowed the province to reduce the economic impact of COVID.

Saskatoon

Sales in Saskatoon were up 41.0%, going from 305 in September 2019 to 430 in September 2020, and up 54.4% in the overall region, going from 423 to 653. In Saskatoon, sales were 28.4% above the 5-year average (and 23.7% above the 10-year average), while in the larger region, sales were 41.7% above the 5-year average (and 34.2% above the 10-year average). Year-to-Date (YTD) sales in Saskatoon rose 12.3% over last year, increasing from 2,862 to 3,215, while YTD sales in the larger region rose 17.9%, going from 3,847 to 4,535.

Sales volume was up 43.0% in the city, going from $107.7M to $154.0M in 2020 (39.3% above the 5-year average, and 31.3% above the 10-year average). YTD sales volume in the city was $1,110.4M, an increase of 16.6% from last year. In the region, sales volume was up 22.8%, going from $1,213.9M to $1,490.6M (47.8% above the 5-year average and 42.0% above the 10-year average). YTD sales volume increased 22.8% in the region, rising from $1,213.9M in 2019 to $1,490.6M in 2020.

In Saskatoon, the number of new listings in September 2020 rose 13.4%, going from 717 to 813 (3.4% above the 5-year average and 4.0% above the 10-year average), while in the region, new listings rose 6.7% from 1,000 last year to 1,067 this year (3.6% below the 5-year average and 1.3% above the 10-year average). YTD new listings in the city fell 4.2%, going from 6,393 to 6,123, while in the larger region, the number of new listings to date fell 6.5%, going from 9,388 to 8,777. Active listings fell 18.0% in Saskatoon (down from 1,906 to 1,563) and fell 22.1% in the region (down from 3,452 to 2,690).

Inventory in Saskatoon stood at 3.6 months (which is 41.8% below the level last year and 38.8% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 52.9%, suggesting balanced market conditions. Inventory in the larger region stood at 4.1 months (which is 49.5% below the level last year and 46.2% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 61.2%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers.

Homes in Saskatoon stayed on the market an average of 40 days in September—down 27.3% from 55 days last year (but below the 5-year average of 52 days and below the 10-year average of 46 days). Homes in the region stayed on the market longer than homes in the city at 51 days on average in 2020, but also down from an average of 66 days last year (and 16.7% below the 5-year average).

Median home prices in Saskatoon went from $329,900 to $345,000 (an increase of 4.6%) and were approximately 4.6% above the 5-year and 6.0% above the 10-year average median price. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI)—a more accurate measure of house price trends—is up 1.0% from $319,400 to $322,700. Year-to-date, the median home price in Saskatoon was $331,183 which is 3.1% above the $321,167 price from the same time last year. Median home prices in the region went from $310,000 to $330,000 (an increase of 6.5%) and were approximately 6.5% above the 5-year and 7.0% above the 10-year average median price. Year-to-date, the median home price in the region was $313,614 which is 4.0% above the $301,511 price from the same time last year.

- SRA Media Release - Oct. 6, 2020