SRA Media Release - Saskatoon Real Estate Market Update
The Saskatchewan real estate market continues to build momentum and set another sales record in April. Across the province, there were 1,865 homes sold (up nearly 182% from last April and up 97.2% year-to-date, going from 2,208 to 3,795), new listings were up over 41% (and up 13.9% year-to-date, going from 2,870 to 5,660,) and the MLS® Home Price Index composite was up 10.5% (up 8.2% year-to-date, going from $256,900 to $283,900). Inventories were also down in all 24 markets that the SRA tracks.
“It’s not really fair to compare this April to last April since pandemic restrictions halted activity for part of April last year,” said Chris Gbekorbu, SRA’s Economic Analyst. “But it is fair to compare April with other years, and just like last month, we set another record with 1,865 sales. We saw sales hit a high of 1,801 last July as the economy reopened, but before then, our record was 1,609 sales in May of 2014.”
This strong demand combined with falling inventory levels is putting upward pressure on prices. The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI) composite was up in 14 of the 15 markets where these data are available (with Estevan showing a 0.1% decline while Swift Current and Meadow Lake saw the greatest increases), while the number of sales were up in all 24 markets.
With supply shrinking and demand continuing to outpace supply, there was the potential for new listings to dry up and further reduce the supply of homes for sale. But even in smaller markets across the province, this hasn’t been the case and there seems to be a steady supply of homes becoming available.
According to Gbekorbu, “new listings were up significantly in 23 of 24 markets, suggesting that people are still quite motivated to sell and helping to ease supply concerns.” As a result, the market remains strong and isn’t showing any signs of slowing down.
The increased market activity has also allowed the SRA to partner with the Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) to expand its coverage of the MLS® HPI tool to 15 markets across the province. The MLS® HPI gives a better indicator of price trends than average or median prices and gives REALTORS® an extra tool to help them develop more accurate pricing information for clients.
Saskatoon and Region (including Martensville, Warman, and Humboldt)
Sales were up 158.2% in Saskatoon (going from 213 to 550), up 175.0% in Martensville (going from 8 to 22), and up 330.0% in Warman (going from 10 to 43). In Humboldt, sales were up 425.0% (going from 4 to 21), while in the larger region, sales were up 177.4% (going from 283 to 785). Sales in Saskatoon were 53.4% above the 5-year average (and 46.0% above the 10-year average), 54.9% above the 5-year average (and 20.9% above the 10-year average) in Martensville, and 77.7% above the 5-year average (and 57.5% above the 10-year average) in Warman. In Humboldt, sales were 110.0% above the 5-year average (and 103.9% above the 10-year average), while in the larger region, sales were 60.0% above the 5-year average (and 48.5% above the 10-year average). Year-to-Date (YTD) sales in Saskatoon rose 87.2% over last
year (increasing from 935 to 1,750), rose 69.6% in Martensville (increasing from 46 to 78), and rose 143.5% in Warman (increasing from 46 to 112). Year-to-Date (YTD) sales in Humboldt rose 200.0% over last year (increasing from 17 to 51), while YTD sales in the larger region rose 90.9% (going from 1,267 to 2,419).
Sales volume was up 185.0% in the Saskatoon, going from $71.9M to $204.9M in 2021 (61.4% above the 5-year average, and 50.4% above the 10-year average). In Martensville, sales volume was up 289.9%, going from $2.0M to $7.9M (73.9% above the 5-year average, and 36.9% above the 10-year average) and in Warman, sales volume was up 273.3%, going from $4.3M to $16.1M (85.1% above the 5-year average, and 64.0% above the 10-year average). Sales volume was up 549.0% in Humboldt, going from $0.7M to $4.5M (98.5% above the 5-year average, and 99.5% above the 10-year average), while in the region, sales volume was up 196.6%, going from $92.2M to $273.5M (66.7% above the 5-year average, and 56.0% above the 10-year average). YTD sales volume in Saskatoon was $632.7M (an increase of 103.0% from last year), $26.4M in Martensville (an increase of 88.6% from last year), and $43.3M in Warman (an increase of 146.6% from last year). YTD sales volume in Humboldt was $11.9M (an increase of 258.6% from last year), while in the region, YTD sales volume was $830.4M (an increase of 107.2% from last year).
In Saskatoon, the number of new listings in April 2021 rose 95.9%, going from 489 to 958 (24.3% above the 5-year average and 17.6% above the 10-year average). The number of new listings rose 136.8% in Martensville, going from 19 to 45 (19.0% above the 5-year average and 4.2% above the 10-year average) and rose 125.0% in Warman, going from 20 to 45 (15.7% below the 5-year average and 25.1% below the 10-year average). In Humboldt, the number of new listings rose 122.2%, going from 9 to 20 (7.5% above the 5-year average and 11.9% below the 10-year average) , while in the region, new listings rose 94.5%, going from 676 last year to 1,315 this year (15.8% above the 5-year average and 10.0% above the 10-year average). YTD new listings in Saskatoon rose 40.0% (going from 532 to 746), rose 31.6% in Martensville (going from 24 to 32), and rose 23.6% in Warman (going from 32 to 39). In Humboldt, YTD new listings rose 48.9% (going from 12 to 18), while in the larger region, the number of new listings to date rose 34.7%, going from 757 to 1,019. Active listings fell 2.0% in Saskatoon (down from 1,468 to 1,439), fell 12.3% in Martensville (down from 81 to 71), fell 42.4% in Warman (down from 118 to 68), fell 14.4% in Humboldt (down from 90 to 77), and fell 13.9% in the region (down from 2,712 to 2,336).
Inventory in Saskatoon stood at 2.6 months (which is 62.0% below the level last year and 45.5% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 57.4%, suggesting balanced market conditions. Inventory in Martensville stood at 3.2 months (which is 68.1% below the level last year and 55.5% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 48.9%, suggesting balanced market conditions. Inventory in Warman stood at 1.6 months (which is 86.6% below the level last year and 69.0% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 95.6%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers. Inventory in Humboldt stood at 3.7 months (which is 83.7% below the level last year and 62.3% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 105.0%, suggesting that market conditions favour sellers. Inventory in the larger region stood at 3.0 months (which is 68.9% below the level last year and 51.7% below the 5-year average), while the sales to listing ratio was 59.7%, suggesting balanced market conditions.
Homes in Saskatoon stayed on the market an average of 33 days in April, down 41.1% from 56 days last year (but below the 5-year average of 49 days and below the 10-year average of 44 days). Homes in Martensville stayed on the market an average of 47 days, down 48.4% from 91 days last year (but below the 5-year average of 67 days and below the 10-year average of 53 days) while homes in Warman stayed on the market an average of 34 days, down 26.1% from
46 days last year (but below the 5-year average of 48 days and below the 10-year average of 52 days). Humboldt saw Homes stay on the market an average of 121 days, up 9.0% from 111 days last year (and above the 5-year average of 110 days and above the 10-year average of 93 days), and homes in the region were on the market an average of 47 days, also down from an average of 67 days last year (and 20.1% below the 5-year average).
The MLS® Home Price Index (HPI)—a more accurate measure of house price trends—varied across different centres in the region. Saskatoon saw the price of the benchmark single family home rise 10.6% year-over-year, going from $290,200 to $321,000. The price of the benchmark single family home in Martensville rose 16.7% (going from $351,900 to $410,700) and also rose by 17.8% in Warman (going from $358,100 to $421,900). The price of the benchmark single family home in Humboldt rose 12.6% (going from $174,500 in 2020 to $196,500 this year).
