Sask. not seeing same COVID-19 impacts on housing market as rest of country

The CEO of Royal Lepage says now is not the time to go out and shop for a new home — or sell.

Phil Soper said 2020 was off to a "boisterous" start as more homes were selling in volume before a state of emergency was declared in Saskatchewan four weeks ago because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We believe that things will ease and people will be able to move into a very different buying and selling process," Soper told CBC Radio's The Morning Edition.

"I'm not saying things will return to normal in 2020, but the market will loosen up as people's stay-at-home restrictions are lifted."

Saskatchewan's housing market has not been negatively impacted to the extent of the rest of Canada about a month into the pandemic.

Home sales fell 14.3 per cent in March nationally but the Canadian Real Estate Association says it is too early to determine the pandemic's effect on prices.

Saskatchewan sales dipped 6.2 per cent on a year-over-year basis (March 2019 compared to March 2020) while prices dropped 5.1 per cent.

There were three more residential sales made between March 18 (421) than there were during the same time last year (418).

"We were seeing a lot of buyer confidence in the beginning of the year," said Brin Werrett, a realtor with Royal Lepage, of Regina's market.

"A lot of young buyers out pulling the trigger on houses, where last year, maybe they were a little bit hesitant."

Numbers may not tell full story

Sales were down 6.2 per cent overall but the Saskatchewan Realtors Association says housing sales saw increases in several of the province's largest cities on a year-over-year basis.

There were 274 sales in Saskatoon last month, a six per cent increase. That grows to 7.2 per cent when the immediate Saskatoon region is considered.

The average price of a home in Saskatoon is about $347,189.

New listings fell from 14.2 per cent in the the Bridge City compared to last year. Active listings are down, too.

It's a similar story in Regina, Swift Current, Prince Albert, North Battleford and Yorkton. 

Sales bumped up just under two per cent in Regina while the immediate region saw an 11.5 per cent increase in sales. New listings in the city went down by 19.5 per cent.

The average price of a home in the Queen City rose slightly to $307,140.